Wealth management

Outflows from money market funds are par for the course in April because of tax season, but rarely do they reach the kind of level seen last month.

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

BNP Paribas Investment Partners, the asset management arm of BNP Paribas Group of Paris, has launched Fridson Investment Advisors, an investment management firm based in New York and specializing in corporate credit opportunities.

Duncan Financial Group LLC, a securities and investment advisory services company in North Huntington, Pa., hired William J. Shelow Jr. as the president of its Virginia subsidiary Atlantic Financial Group LLC.

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. has hired Chad South as a director and head of U.S. clean products trading in the commodities business within its global markets division.

Charles P. Nelson has been promoted to president of Great-West Retirement Services.

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. promoted Hugh O'Toole to senior vice president in charge of national sales and distribution for the company's retirement services division.

MetLife Inc. has introduced a universal life insurance policy.

Federated Investors Inc., a Pittsburgh investment manager, said it has completed the purchase of $42 million of mutual fund assets from Central Bank and Trust Co. in Lexington, Ky.

Many banking companies have developed wealth management assets by targeting niche groups like professionals, women, and African-Americans, but observers say they are missing one particular niche: Hispanic-Americans.

State Street Global Advisors, the investment management arm of State Street Corp., announced Tuesday that it had started two SPDR exchange-traded funds on the American Stock Exchange.

Americans' retirement assets rose 6.7%, to $17.6 trillion, last year despite tumultuous market conditions.

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.

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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.