Wealth management

BlackRock Inc., the country's largest publicly traded asset manager, said its fourth-quarter net income plunged 84% from a year earlier, to $53 million, or 40 cents a share, as a result of poor investment performance.

American International Group Inc. confirmed that Win Neuger has stepped down as chief investment officer and said it has promoted Monika M. Machon to succeed him.

Bucking a trend among trust banks that ended up in the doghouse after missing expectations, Northern Trust Corp.'s fourth-quarter profits more than doubled.

Hedge fund assets fell 39%, to $1.21 trillion, in 2008, the worst year for the hedge fund industry, Hennessee Group LLC said.

Despite a massive investor sell-off Tuesday, State Street Corp.'s top executive was upbeat in an interview, saying he expects to achieve "flat" results this year by cutting expenses and gaining asset servicing and management business.

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. reported a drop in net income for its fiscal first quarter, which ended Dec. 31, and cut its full-year outlook.

Morgan Stanley Investment Management has reopened the Morgan Stanley Global Infrastructure Fund to new U.S. investors.

New York Life Insurance Co. said William G. Walter has joined its board of directors.

A nightmare for most other institutional portfolio managers has been a boon for BNY Mellon Beta Management.

The average hedge fund lost 3 basis points last month, according to the Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Fund Index, capping the hedge fund industry's worst year.

Vista Wealth Management LLC of San Francisco hired Joseph Delaney as its director of wealth management services.

Grail Advisors LLC, a San Francisco investment manager, launched two actively managed exchange-traded funds.

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The BNY Mellon Asset Management unit of Bank of New York Mellon Corp. has combined its money market mutual fund and short-duration fixed-income businesses into a new unit called BNY Mellon Cash Investment Strategies.

Umpqua Holdings Corp.'s new asset management unit may soon find that even a local bank will have a hard time getting people to invest during the current economic climate.

The Jefferies & Co. unit of Jefferies Group Inc. has hired Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. veterans, Daniel Markaity and Christopher Bury, as co-heads of its fixed-income rates business.

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Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. of Tokyo has added a fund family, the Nomura Partners Funds.

American Century Investments has hired a pair of portfolio managers from Lehman Brothers.