Wealth management

Two-thirds of employers are using automatic enrollment in their 401(k) plans or plan to start using it in the next 18 months, according to a survey conducted by Wells Fargo & Co.'s employee benefits consulting group in Minneapolis.

American International Group Inc. has acquired the 39.3% stake of 21st Century Insurance Group that it did not previously own.

Nationwide Financial Services Inc. says the deal it expects to close today to sell its active asset management business is a big step in its bid to duplicate in asset management the success it has enjoyed in the variable annuity business.

BB&T Insurance Services of Raleigh has a deal to acquire Sidney O. Smith Inc., a Gainesville, Ga., insurance agency.

John Hancock Annuities, a Boston unit of Toronto's Manulife Financial Corp., plans to start offering a new optional guaranteed withdrawal benefit rider today.

Northern Trust Corp. promoted Susan Mallory to president of southern California and Nevada for its personal financial services unit.

Contango Capital Advisors Inc., Zions Bancorp.'s wealth management arm, has hired Owen Brown as its chief operating officer and chief financial officer.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp., through its clearing and prime brokerage subsidiary Pershing LLC, has unveiled a platform to support managers of 130/30 strategies.

In joining the parade of mainstream wealth managers starting alternative investments units, MFS Investments of Boston is making a long-term commitment to giving its institutional investors access to emerging hedge fund managers.

New York Life Insurance Co. has hired Richard L. Mucci as chairman and chief executive officer of New York Life International, its overseas arm.

State Street Global Alliance, the strategic venturing joint partnership between Boston's State Street Global Advisors and the Netherlands pension fund Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP, said it has bought a minority interest in Sectoral Asset Management, a Montreal institutional investment manager focused on the health-care sector.

Bear Stearns Cos. shares jumped 7.7% Wednesday after a New York Times report that the investment bank is in talks to sell a minority stake to investors including Warren Buffett.

Evergreen Investments, the investment arm of Wachovia Corp., has announced the founding of a financial institutions group and said it had hired Mike Woods to run it.

BlackRock Inc., a New York investment manager, announced that it had added Mathis Cabiallavetta to its board of directors.

Money Management Executive

A federal judge in New York dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday against two Citigroup Inc. units that had alleged they did not disclose to mutual fund customers millions of dollars in savings reportedly pocketed by its asset management business through the use of an affiliated transfer agent.

UBS AG announced that it had opened its third private wealth management office on Monday in Chicago.