Margarida Correia

In 2012, nearly 27% of commercial banks offered investment services, marking the first increase in over a decade.

Average Americans hold about $300,000 in life insurance coverage, even though they will earn approximately $1.5 million before they retire.

Small business owners are feeling more confident even as the economy struggles to return to a more robust level of growth.

Umpqua names a former Citi Private Bank executive to lead growth in the San Francisco region.

The bank launched new proprietary ETF portfolios that it says provide exposure to global investment opportunities by leveraging the international perspective of its parent, BNP Paribas.

The Private Client Reserve lured professionals from J.P. Morgan Private Bank and Citi for positions in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Scottsdale, Ariz.

In 2012, the unit generated $25 million in revenue, beating the 133 banks in the region that reported brokerage fee income last year.

Six in 10 penta-millionaires chose absolute returns and total assets to gauge their success, nearly identical to people in the lower-tier mass affluent segment.

Citi named two senior managers from rival institutions directors and ultra-high-net-worth private bankers.

Over the next 12 months, it plans to open four more wealth management centers, possibly outside its current footprint.

Ascent Private Capital Management has hired four managing directors, each supported by a national advisory team of more than 30 wealth experts.

George Crosby, the former head of HSBC’s Brazil team, will oversee all activities covering the Latin American markets in the U.S.

During the first quarter of 2013, banks generated $790.7 million in annuity sales, up 1.2% from $781.7 million in the same quarter last year.

Wealth management services generated $6.9 million in second-quarter revenue, up 20.4% year-over-year.

For the first six months of 2013, trust services generated $14.9 million, while investment services and insurance generated $5.8 million, up 31% and 26%, respectively, from last year.

Since the start of the year, Regions has hired 102 financial consultants and is aiming for 125 by year-end. It is looking to build an advisor force of 160 to 170 by the end of 2014.

Two of the five new hires joined the Boston office. The others joined offices in Princeton, N.J., Melville, N.Y., and Walnut Creek, Calif.

Trust services generated $124.7 million in income during the second quarter of 2013, up 2% from the same period last year.

Private banking, trust and brokerage units have each enjoyed periods when they were the big guys on campus. But now no one group is more important than the other.

Readers weigh in on HSBC’s decision to put its advisors on salary.