Matt Ackermann

Forty-eight percent of respondents reported plans to increase their allocation to commodities in 2012, and 45% of respondents to real estate.

The New York wealth manager hired Jennifer Mitchell, a former Barclays managing director.

Jeffrey Patterson and Rick Pucci have become registered representatives with the La Vista, Neb., based independent broker-dealer.

Traveil Crowell, who has worked in the financial services industry for seven years, had worked at Chase Investment Services. Before that, he worked at Mills McCaghren & Associates and Ameriprise Financial.

The new platform, introduced by Beverly Hills Wealth Management, enables RIAs and advisors to streamline access and usage of cloud-based service applications and IT security

The La Vista, Neb., based independent broker-dealer announced Thursday that Bruce Lear will be a senior vice president for Black Oak Investment Counsel in Kearney, Neb.

UBS Wealth Management Americas reported its highest quarterly pre-tax profit as revenue surged.

The Richmond, Va., company’s board named Martin P. Klein acting chief executive officer and James S. Riepe non-executive chairman of the board.

The Chicago-based company bought Tamarac Inc., to expand the services it provides to RIAs.

Profitability has become a serious challenge for independent broker-dealer firms, according to a survey by Cerulli.

The group, which collectively manages $18 billion of client assets, plans to meet on a regular basis and provide “thought leadership” to independent and wirehouse advisors.

The Philadelphia-based wealth manager hired David Gaskin as chief operating officer to lead its growth strategy.

When Savant Capital Management, a $2.2 billion registered investment advisory firm, and The Monitor Group, a $500 million RIA, announced earlier this week that they were planning to merge, many industry pundits were left scratching their heads. Why were two reasonably successful RIAs merging?

The combined firm, which will have 10 offices in Illinois, Wisconsin, Virginia and Florida, will be called Savant Capital LLC.

The company said in a press release that the role was crated "because of the importance of the Americas businesses in Barclays portfolio and strategy and will better enable Barclays to position its businesses optimally for the changing industry environment."

Krawcheck, who was ousted from her position as president of Bank of America Corp.’s Global Wealth Management group in September, is joining the New York-based company effective immediately.

Four out of five millionaire investors surveyed by Spectrem Group say the sluggish economy was their top concern in the first quarter compared to 70% in the same period a year ealier.

“The lead dogs … have gone independent and the next crop of wirehouse advisors is watching them," Chip Roame said at the Tiburon CEO Summit XXII in New York on Tuesday.

The unit of Bank of America Private Wealth Management said Wednesday that it hired Greg Khost as a managing director and regional executive in Florham Park, N.J., Donald R. Quattrucci, as a managing director and market investment executive in Rhode Island, and Nancy E. Anderson, as a senior vice president and private client advisor in Minneapolis.

The acquisition expands the presence of SunTrust's Private Wealth Management division in Los Angeles and Atlanta; adds offices in Greenwich, Boca Raton and San Francisco; and builds on its practice with wealthy athletes, musicians, motorsports and film practices.