Practice

Wealthy Americans say growing the economy matters more in the coming year than slashing federal spending.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has ordered Pruco Securities, a securities broker-dealer owned by Prudential Financial, to pay more than $10.7 million to customers who placed mutual fund orders via facsimile or mail and received an inferior price for their shares.

Defined contribution plan sponsors were hit with a number of initiatives this year including fulfilling the Department of Labor’s fee requirements and weighing the pros and cons of retirement income products.

Eagle Asset Management today announced that it has completed the purchase of a 45% ownership stake in San Diego-based ClariVest Asset Management.

“While many firms are definitely taking note of the importance of women today, they still don’t quite know how to approach women in a meaningful way,” says Teresa Dentino, founder and CEO of financial education firm The Financial 411.

So what are three elements that are going to shape the mutual fund landscape in 2013?

The Securities and Exchange Commission last week barred an Arizona-based mutual fund manager from the securities industry for failing to follow his own prospectus, which led to his fund’s collapse.

After the landmark Dodd-Frank financial reform bill and continued calls for tighter scrutiny of the financial sector, 2012 brought a flurry of congressional hearings, public comments on rule proposals, and lobbying and public posturing by various stakeholders. Scores of new rules and regulations that could affect the advisory industry made their way through varying stages of development. But for all the noise this year, what actually changed?

President Obama, facing a budget stalemate with Republicans, urged leaders of both parties to assemble an interim bill to keep taxes from rising on middle- income Americans as they work on a more comprehensive plan.

Robert Khuzami, who led the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement division’s pursuit of financial industry wrongdoing related to the subprime crisis, plans to step down as early as next month, three people with knowledge of the matter said.