Wealth management

Charles Schwab Corp. reported a surge in assets and daily average trades for July, and analysts said even the company's strong monthly results would probably not dampen the consolidation trend in the discount brokerage industry that has been stimulated by industrywide overcapacity.

A subsidiary of Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. introduced a managed account platform for independent advisers on Thursday.

The Dutch insurer Aegon announced Thursday that second-quarter net income rose 71%, to $945 million, on investment gains, and that pretax operating earnings grew 12%, to $630 million.

American International Group Inc. has reported that operating income for its domestic life insurance and retirement services group grew 5.1%, to $1.1 billion, in the second quarter compared with the year earlier — but nearly 19% in the corresponding foreign group.

Phoenix Cos. Inc. in Hartford, Conn., said Wednesday that it had hired Matthew Schleichkorn from Morgan Stanley to be a senior vice president of Phoenix Investment Partners' Los Angeles territory.

TIAA-CREF, once the gold standard of pension plan providers, has been ceding share in recent years to banks, brokerage firms, and other financial institutions.

Alps Financial Services Inc., the Denver parent of Alps Mutual Fund Services Inc. and a provider of outsourced back-office administration and distribution services, said Tuesday that it has a definitive agreement to be recapitalized.

E-Trade Financial Corp. announced plans Tuesday to buy Kobren Insight Management, a Boston registered investment advisory firm that manages about $1 billion for private clients.

As banks look for cost-effective ways to market insurance products to retail customers, several have turned to Answer Financial, an Encino, Calif., company that offers banks and other companies a multicarrier platform for marketing and distributing insurance.

Northern Trust Co. said Tuesday that it had hired Michael Blake to be a vice president of business development within its global fund services unit.

Alliance Capital Management reported preliminary data Tuesday showing assets under management had grown 3.5%, to $534 billion, in July.

Schwab Corporate Services, a unit of Charles Schwab & Co. Inc., announced Tuesday that it is making its rate-of-return analysis tool available to third-party administrators and their plan sponsor clients who use the Schwab Retirement Technologies Web application.

HSBC Holdings PLC said Monday it has started selling some products of its affiliate Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China at its bank branches in mainland China.

Banks and wire houses are emerging in the vanguard of retirement plan sales as financial services companies scramble to capture assets from the aging baby boomer generation, plan providers say.

First Banks Inc. was to announce today a partnership with Answer Financial Inc. to offer customers enhanced insurance product access through Internet and call center services.

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. has reported a 39% increase in second-quarter net income from a year earlier.

In the wake of the London subway and bus bombings, top concerns among affluent Americans have shifted from the economy to terrorism, safety, and security, according to a survey to be released today.

Fidelity Investments has reported that average participant balances in its 401(k) plans are at their highest since 1999 and that average plan participation rates stabilized after a few years of slight declines.

National Investment Managers Inc., a New York pension plan administration and investment management company, said Friday that it had bought a Haddonfield, N.J., retirement planning firm.