Ruthie Ackerman

Despite the fact that global assets under management increased, asset managers continue to face challenges as they struggle to earn a profit, according to a report released by The Boston Consulting Group on Tuesday.

Silver Bridge, an independent wealth advisory firm, announced on Tuesday that it expanded into the Northern California region with the acquisition of H&S Financial Advisors of San Francisco.

UBS Wealth Management Americas announced in an internal memo it was launching a new Wealth Planning and Investment Strategies group to be led by Tony Roth.

The trend towards younger target-date fund participants is due to the fact that new employees are more likely to be automatically enrolled in their employer’s 401(k) plan, where target-date funds are often the default option, the study said.

Despite the fact small-cap stocks have tumbled recently as greater economic uncertainty increased, the average domestic small cap mutual fund continues to outperform. So how come some observerrs are skeptical?

Despite investors concerns, senior executives at U.S. companies with $500 million to $3 billion in total revenues were particularly optimistic about revenue, profitability, technology spending and hiring.

Schwab Charitable reported Thursday it received record annual contributions to its donor-advised fund in fiscal year 2010, driven by the surge in the stock market last year and the conversion of private foundations to donor-advised funds that were less costly and time consuming.

Baird announced Thursday it hired Bill Welsh to head its San Francisco wealth management office. With the addition of Welsh, the firm has boosted its ranks by 36 advisors and branch managers since the beginning of the year.

Barclays Wealth plans to expand in the next five years. Wednesday, it announced it hired Stefanie Drews as managing director of ultra-high-net-worth for the United Kingdom and Europe, Middle East and Africa.

According to an Ernst & Young 2010 survey, which was recently released, 72% of global banking executives reported that regulatory uncertainty was the biggest challenge around risk management faced by their organizations and 80% say costs to manage new regulations are going to rise.

The sovereign debt crisis coupled with persistently high unemployment rates in the United States and continued fears over the 2008 financial meltdown has rocked investor confidence, so much so that investor mood has completely turned around in just one month’s time.

The good news for investors is that actively-managed ETFs are likely to grow further and are showing some momentum.

Despite feeling the pain of the economic slowdown in 2008, Americans continued to give generously to charities, though few as generously as Warren Buffett who has promised to donate 99% of his riches.

Despite excitement surrounding investing in emerging markets, many industry observers worry the sector won't be able to measure up to expectations.

Bank of America is still the top wealth manager, followed by UBS. Morgan Stanley moved up four slots after buying the Smith Barney business from Citi, followed by Wells Fargo, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and Royal Bank of Canada, a new entry on the list.

First Republic Bank began as an independent bank in 1985 and on Thursday it became independent once again.

After launching an initiative to revamp its wealth management business in April, The Hartford Financial Services Group announced Wednesday that John C. Walters, current president of wealth management will leave at the end of July to “pursue other opportunities.”

Fifty seven percent of employers automatically enroll workers in 401(k) plans, but slightly less than half of those that reduced or suspended matching contributions when the financial crisis hit in September 2008 have restored them, according to a survey released Wednesday by Towers Watson.

After getting burned by the financial crisis in 2008, many investors have decided to sit on the sidelines instead of jumping back into equities. But Putnam Investments said at its mid-year equity markets briefing Tuesday in New York that it sees the uncertainty in the financial markets as an opportunity.

During his keynote address at the Morningstar conference, Jeffrey Gundlach forecast radical policies out of Washington that would include higher taxes and warned that deflation and the debt overhang will continue to impact investor for the next five years.