Wealth management

Cohen & Steers Inc., a New York investment company that manages income-oriented equity portfolios, announced Monday it hired David Edlin as a senior vice president and national sales manager.

Mutual funds' 2009 sales outlook is modest, according to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc.

Jackson National Life Insurance Co. in Lansing, Mich., a unit of Prudential PLC of London, followed its best sales year with its second-best in 2008, though sales and deposits fell 3%, to $14 billion.

BNY ConvergEx Group LLC, a Bank of New York Mellon Corp. unit that provides global agency brokerage and investment technology services, has upgraded its InterComm commission management platform.

The college savings industry has welcomed a regulatory ruling that lets 529 plan owners change their investment strategy twice a year, rather than once.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. said it has promoted Troy Kilpatrick to president of its Bank of New York Mellon Trust Co.

Hedge funds posted about $74 billion of outflows last month — the second-highest amount ever — but the losses are likely to slow as the funds' assets continue to shrink, according to TrimTabs Investment Research Inc.

Barclays Global Investors of San Francisco said it has hired John Longley as head of national accounts for its iShares exchange-traded funds.

New York Life Insurance Co. announced that Ted Mathas, its president and chief executive officer, was elected chairman by its board of directors.

Americans' retirement assets declined 5.9% in the third quarter, to $15.9 trillion, even before the stock market reached a November low, according to the Investment Company Institute.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is examining the procedures certain investment advisers and broker-dealers have in place for safeguarding client assets.

In an industry that increasingly values personal relationships, a growing breed of bank advisers are partnering with spouses.

City National Bank in Los Angeles has hired Richard Gershen as an executive vice president and director of its wealth management services arm.

Scottrade Inc. said it is opening a branch office in Hoboken, N.J.

When Bank of America Corp. acquired Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., it gained a stronger unified managed account platform than its own and a team of executives well versed in UMAs. Now the Merrill contingent is leading the development of the platform.

Lazard Ltd. has announced that it hired Alexander Doll to be a managing director in its German financial advisory business.

Global investor confidence rose 12.7 points this month, to 72.9, from January's revised level of 60.2, according to an index kept by State Street Global Markets, State Street Corp.'s investment research and trading arm.