Wealth management

Gibraltar Private Bank and Trust, a Coral Gables, Fla., unit of Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc., has announced the hiring of Matthew A. Lapides to be the managing director of its wealth arm.

The stimulus legislation signed Tuesday by President Obama restricts banks' hiring of foreign workers if they take money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Wilmington Trust Corp. of Delaware announced Tuesday that it has hired six executives for its wealth advisory services office in Boston.

Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. of Milwaukee has opened its first Baltimore-area office.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. announced Tuesday that it has promoted Art Certosimo to its executive committee, which oversees the company's day-to-day operations.

Northern Trust Corp. of Chicago announced Tuesday that it has hired two lead relationship managers and added them to the company's personal financial services team in New York that will advise high-net-worth individuals and families.

State Street Global Advisors, State Street Corp.'s investment management arm, announced that it has been appointed as a portfolio strategist firm by the Genworth Financial Wealth Management Inc. unit of Genworth Financial Inc.

Early estimates indicate hedge fund assets fell 5.8% in January, to $1.748 trillion, according to HedgeFund.net.

The market's ongoing volatility is making it easier than ever for banking companies' wealth management arms to recruit and retain top brokerage talent.

Puritan Financial Group Inc. of Destin, Fla., has signed a binding letter of intent to buy Union Financial Corp., a small boutique brokerage in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Robert W. Baird & Co., a Milwaukee wealth manager, said it has hired Paula Johnson as a senior vice president.

For more information on this data, visit Novantas LLC and Market Rates Insight.

John Hancock Life Insurance, a Boston unit of Toronto's Manulife Financial Corp., said it has introduced the John Hancock Accumulation UL product, a universal life policy.

ProFunds Group, a Bethesda, Md., manager of short and leveraged funds, announced Thursday that it had hired Joanne M. Hill to head investment strategy.

Putnam Investments said Thursday that it will lay off 260 employees, or about 10% of its work force, mostly in distribution and operations.

State Street Global Advisors, State Street Corp.'s investment management arm, has introduced the SPDR Barclays Capital Intermediate Term Credit Bond ETF.

Protective Life Corp. in Birmingham, Ala., is rethinking whether it wants government capital.

Mellon Capital Management Corp. of San Francisco, a unit of Bank of New York Mellon Corp., has launched a fund called Mellon Capital High Quality Long Corporate Bond Strategy with $100 million of assets from three clients.

(To see this graphic in full, click on the image in the box to the right.)

Second-to-die life insurance, or survivorship insurance, was mainly intended for one purpose: Pay any estate taxes for nonspouse heirs over the estate tax exemption.