Ruthie Ackerman

The Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund reported on Wednesday that its donors made more than 152,000 grants totaling $531 million during the first six months of 2010, the strongest first half for outgoing grants in the Gift Fund’s 19-year history.

Royal Bank of Canada is looking for a buyer for its U.S. insurance unit, Liberty Life Insurance Co., Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.

Royal Bank of Scotland announced on Tuesday that it hired Rory Tapner as CEO of its Wealth Division.

Charles Schwab announced at a panel discussion on exchange-traded funds in New York City on Tuesday that it will continue to offer commission-free trading to its brokerage clients that use its lineups of ETFs.

The majority of advisors believe market structure issues were the primary reason for the “Flash Crash” on May 6, according to new research by BlackRock that was released on Monday. And despite new guidelines proposed by the SEC, advisors believe a similar event will likely happen again.

Since Howard Hammond joined Fifth Third Securities four years ago as president and CEO, hiring new advisors and management and shifting to a full service relationship-driven advisory model has been his top priorities. And it’s paying off-performance has improved over the last 18 months, with total revenue up 35% in 2010 from 2009.

Charles Schwab announced on Thursday three new, low-cost bond exchange-traded funds with no online trading commissions for Schwab clients.

Drexel Morgan & Co. announced on Thursday that it acquired McCabe Capital Managers, Ltd. To expand the firm’s wealth management and clients services capabilities.

Now that regulatory reform has passed, advisors and wealth managers are waiting to find out how it will effect them. One thing seems clear though - advisors at large wirehouses and smaller broker-dealers will be the most impacted.

The number of high net worth individuals in the top ten U.S. metropolitan areas jumped 17.5% in 2009, the highest growth rate in the last four years, according to the Capgemini 2010 U.S. Metro Wealth Index.

New client relationships and the retention of existing clients helped Fortigent, LLC report its best six month period ever on Thursday.

In a sign that the economy has a long way to go, U.S. small business owners’ confidence hit its lowest point in 29 quarters, according to the latest Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index, conducted in July.

Although women controlled approximately 27%, or $20.2 trillion, of the world’s wealth in 2009, over half of women feel wealth managers could be better meeting their financial needs, according to a Boston Consulting Group global study released on Thursday.

Net inflows into exchange-traded funds in the first half of 2010 beat inflows into ETFs in the previous year, according to State Street Global Advisors, the investment management business of State Street Corporation.

Too few women have a detailed financial plan in place, according to a Prudential Financial study, something that can impact their financial security in the long run.

The message at the Wells Fargo Advantage Funds Market Strategists breakfast in New York City on Tuesday was optimistic: the stock market may be contracting, but the economy is slowly recovering.

With few newcomers and an aging advisor population, the wealth management industry’s independent channel has been focused on recruiting talent from captive firms. But in order for the independent channel to continue to grow, the industry will have to help ease the transition for newcomers starting their own practices, according to a new report from Aite Group.

Following the massive Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Bernard Madoff, almost 70% of respondents to an SEI poll say their clients want enhanced financial reporting capabilities from their wealth managers.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday to propose limits on mutual fund distribution fees and provide more transparency for investors.

One in four financial advisors expect clients to increase charitable giving to offset anticipated tax hikes, but only 52% of advisors proactively offer charitable planning advice to their clients, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund.