Lorie Konish

Bank of America Merrill Lynch wealth management executive John Thiel's new plan to restructure the firm’s U.S. wealth management business should help the firm better serve and acquire high net worth and instituional clients.

When financial advisor Jeff Leventhal left UBS Financial Services for HighTower Advisors earlier this month, the decision was as much about serving his clients as the direction in which he saw the entire wealth industry headed.

Janus Capital Group has unveiled a new online retirement income distribution tool aimed at helping financial advisors keeping their clients’ retirement income evenly flowing for more than 30 years.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney has hired a two-member Morgan Keegan & Co. financial advisor team, Peter Korcusko and Frank Colucci, in Clearwater, Fla.

Even as Bank of America braces for mass layoffs, its Merrill Lynch brokerage is still out for new producers as it hires Morgan Stanley Smith Barney financial advisor Antonio Da Roza to its San Francisco office.

Citi Private Bank has formed a new group to expand its work with Asian clients in North America and named current Managing Director Ida Liu to head the group.

Brokerage firm Benjamin F. Edwards & Co. has hired a three-member team from Wells Fargo Advisors for a new Panama City, Fla. branch as part of its national expansion.

UBS AG updated the loss from its unauthorized trading scandal on Sunday to $2.3 billion from its previous $2 billion estimate, and also provided more details on how the alleged fraud was perpetrated.

Raymond James & Associates has hired a four-member financial advisor team that was previously producing more than $3.6 million in annual fees and commissions at Robert W. Baird & Co.

Citi Private Bank has hired Daniel Batista from JPMorgan Chase & Co. as a managing director and ultra high net worth banker.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney has hired three financial advisors from RBC Capital Markets and UBS Financial Services in Connecticut and South Dakota.

UBS Wealth Management Americas has hired a two-member Wells Fargo Advisors team in its Tucson, Ariz. office.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney has expanded its California financial advisor force with eight new hires from Wells Fargo Advisors and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Janney Montgomery Scott has expanded its Private Client Group with the hiring of Michael Drumm from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney as vice president and branch manager in New York and the opening of two new retail offices in New Jersey and Massachusetts.

Bank of America changed its wealth management leadership in one fell swoop Tuesday evening when it announced the departure of top wealth management executive Sallie Krawcheck, a move that may actually point to a deeper commitment to the Merrill Lynch business.

Bank of America said it has hired 40 new financial solutions advisors for its Merrill Edge business in the mid-Atlantic region as the bank seeks to bring that total advisor force to 1,000 nationally by the end of this year.

Last year, BNY Mellon Wealth Management was on an ambitious push to expand its network of financial advisors. Whether Robert Kelly’s surprise resignation late Wednesday will derail that momentum remains unclear at this point.

While the sudden departure of Bank of New York Mellon CEO Robert Kelly late Wednesday might have come as a surprise to some industry observers, it was actually a change Rochdale Securities Bank Analyst Dick Bove called for two weeks ago.

When Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. invested $5 billion in Bank of America, it capped off a rocky month for the bank and fed speculation that Merrill Lynch financial advisors might seek cover at other firms.

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel has ordered Wedbush Securities and one of its former brokers to pay $2.9 million in damages and fees to an elderly investor who allegedly fell victim to a faulty investment scheme.