Wealth management

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. announced Monday it raised its earnings outlook for this year because of strong results in its life and property and casualty segments in the fourth quarter.

The president and chief executive officer of Highbury Financial Inc. says the Denver asset manager will look to acquire more mutual fund assets, perhaps from banks looking to get out of proprietary asset management, now that the company has completed its purchase of ABN Amro’s U.S. mutual fund business.

Northeast Bank Insurance Group, Inc., a subsidiary of Lewiston, Maine-based Northeast Bancorp, has acquired its second insurance agency in less than a week.

ING Direct Securities Inc. has launched six no-load mutual funds.

Dreyfus Corp., a unit of Mellon Financial Corp., has promoted Thomas F. Eggers to chief executive officer and Jon Little to chairman.

Guy Carpenter & Co. Inc., a unit of Marsh & McLennan Cos., appointed Eric "Rick" Johnson a senior vice president.

The new president of Fifth Third Bancorp’s investment advisory business says he expects the unit to expand its assets under management by deepening relationships with existing customers in its private-client group.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. plans to build a 450,000-square-foot campus in Windsor, Conn., for its Hartford Life operations.

Northern Trust Corp. has hired David P. Kalis as lead manager of Northern Trust Global Investments' midcap growth equity team.

Commerce Banc Insurance Services, a subsidiary of Commerce Bancorp Inc. of Cherry Hill, N.J., hired James M. Hanrahan the vice president of large accounts.

Confidence among wealthy investors declined last month for the first time in three months, according to an index compiled by Spectrem Group.

Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. said its management team would recommend that the board raise its annual dividend by 12%, to 76 cents a share.

At a time when some banks are getting out of the insurance business, BancWest Corp. of San Francisco is expanding in it through acquisitions by its BW Insurance Agency Inc. unit.

Insurers and large fund companies, already the dominant participants in the 401(k) business, are consolidating their hold as some large banks, concerned about their lack of scale in the line, pull back.

Mellon Financial Corp. has agreed to sell its Mellon HBV Alternative Strategies LLC to Mickey Harley, the New York unit's chief executive officer.

Fremont Bank in California has begun offering health savings accounts to its customers.

It has been a record year for asset management deals, and banks continue to adjust to a changing landscape that could see more of them leave the business, banking and investment analysts said.

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. completed its divestiture of Omni Insurance Group, the company's non-standard property and casualty subsidiary, to Independent Insurance Investments, Inc.

Commerce Banc Insurance Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Commerce Bancorp, announced Friday that Margaret M. Weed has been named a vice president and an account executive.