Wealth management

Union Bank of California hopes that a reorganization and a new team-based approach will allow it to double its wealth management profits by the end of 2012.

Old Mutual Asset Management, a Boston subsidiary of London's Old Mutual PLC, said the assets under management by the unit's 20 boutique firms fell 5%, to $316.8 billion, in the first quarter.

Spectrem Group has reported that its Spectrem Millionaire Investor Index fell 1 point in April to minus-14, dropping below the affluent index's measure of investor outlook for the first time since its inception in February 2004.

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

State Street Corp. announced that it has expanded its investment servicing capabilities for the Swiss market with the purchase of Deutsche Bank's fund accounting operations.

ING Group NV's announcement last week that it had a deal for CitiStreet LLC, a joint venture between Citigroup Inc. and State Street Corp., was only the latest consolidation move in the retirement services industry.

Prudential Financial Inc.'s group insurance business hired Peter Bandarenko as its advanced markets sales director, a newly created position overseeing universal life, executive carve-out life, retiree life buyouts, pooling, and captive reinsurance sales.

Axa Partners, the life insurance unit of Axa Distributors LLC, promoted Gary Hirschkron to president.

SKBA Capital Management, a San Francisco unit of Convergent Capital Management, named Andrew W. Bischel its chief executive.

State Street Corp. of Boston said it has signed a lease for an office in Krakow, Poland.

Kennebunk Savings Bank's small size ($745.5 million of assets) has not stopped it from adding investment advisory services to its insurance and banking businesses to boost noninterest income during difficult market conditions.

Legg Mason Inc. posted the first quarterly loss in its history Tuesday.

BlackRock Inc.'s deal to buy a portfolio of subprime mortgage debt from UBS AG for $15 billion may have helped set a market-clearing price for such assets.

KBW Inc. said Tuesday that it has formed a real estate investment advisory group and hired three investment bankers from Wachovia Securities LLC to staff it.

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

Liberty Mutual Group's deal to buy Safeco Corp. is a preview of a consolidation wave that will concentrate market share among the nation's top insurance carriers, experts say.

MetLife Inc. has revamped its variable annuity suite.

Millionaires are downbeat on the economy but expect improvement by this time next year, according to a study from Fidelity Investments.