Wealth management

Wells Fargo Insurance Services Inc., a subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Co., said it has formed a strategic alliance between its Wells Fargo Special Risks Inc. unit and Great American Insurance Group.

Affiliated Managers Group Inc., a Boston asset manager, announced that it had bought an equity interest in BlueMountain Capital Management, a New York and London credit alternatives manager.

Alps Fund Services Inc., a Denver provider of outsourced and advisory solutions to investment management firms, and Red Rocks Capital, a Denver investment adviser, have started a mutual fund that invests in the common stock of publicly traded private-equity companies.

Bank Investment Consultant

Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc. announced Tuesday that it had a deal to buy Davidson Capital Management, a Philadelphia investment management company.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., an Itasca, Ill., insurance brokerage, announced that it had closed its purchase of the Robert A. Schneider Agency Inc. of Minnetonka, Minn.

The funded status of U.S. pension plans declined 7% in November, according to data released last week.

Bank of America Corp.'s asset management unit is "winding down" a large, enhanced-cash-yield fund after suffering losses on holdings including short-term debt sold by structured investment vehicles, a company spokesman said Monday.

Fannie Mae, which raised $7 billion through the sale of preferred stock last week and cut its dividend to bolster its capital, is unlikely to go back to the market even if the credit markets fail to rebound by the end of next year, Fannie Chief Executive Daniel Mudd said Tuesday.

OppenheimerFunds Inc. is betting that it can turn around Texas' 529 savings plan program through a combination of lower fees, better fund performance, and better service.

The open-end mutual fund, long the investment product of choice for financial advisers, will be used about 10% less by 2009, according to a new study by Cogent Research.

Confidence among affluent investors and millionaires declined last month, according to research released last week.

BNY Mellon Asset Servicing, Bank of New York Mellon Corp.'s securities servicing arm, has been chosen as the overseas custodian for China International Fund Management Co.'s Asia Pacific Advantage Fund.

American International Group Inc.'s top executive said Wednesday that its exposure to the volatile U.S. residential mortgage market is "manageable" and would not deter growth over the next five years, but another AIG executive said the insurer could be forced to take $600 million of asset writedowns.

Massachusetts securities regulators have charged A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. with "dishonest and unethical conduct" and failure to supervise a broker who "aggressively" pursued retiring employees at Boston Edison Co. and caused them to lose a portion of their retirement assets.

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