Practice

NEW YORK - A little-known provision in international financial reporting standards (IFRS) could require mutual funds to consolidate and report the financials of the companies they invest in, if they own a controlling interest across all of their individual funds.

John Hancock has launched a microsite and accompanying advertisements addressing the many looming, difficult questions near-retirees have, such as how to leave a legacy, how best to work with a financial adviser, how to repair a beaten-down portfolio and how to juggle multiple financial goals including saving for retirement, taking care of aging parents and saving for a child’s education.

The House Financial Services Committee passed a bill Wednesday that would allow states to oversee hedge funds and other investment advisors with $100 million or less in assets under management, leaving larger investment managers up to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Plan sponsors are becoming more aggressive about helping their workers save for retirement, and even investment advice is now offered, Hewitt Associates found in a survey of 300 mid- and large-sized companies.

Putnam Chief Executive Officer Robert Reynolds is once again sounding the call for a new approach to 401(k) investing, inclusive of annuities and other retirement income products. This time, he is asking Washington to create a national insurance charter that will ensure consistent regulation for assured income products.

With all of the news about low 401(k) balances and half of the people in the country not being offered either a 401(k) or a pension plan, amazingly, an estimated 10% may be saving too much for retirement. That’s according to the estimates of Harvard University economist David Laibson.

MassMutual Retirement Services, a unit of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., announced that September was its best sales month ever.

Some say that character is revealed by what you do when no one is looking. This may be true for an individual, but for leaders within organizations, I contend that perhaps character is revealed by what you do when everyone is looking. When the heat is on. When challenges abound. When resources are scarce, competition is fierce, and failure is a possibility.

Bank of America wants to remind everyone that Merrill Lynch is more than just a sideshow. Trying to move beyond the lawsuits and congressional hearings, BoA will finally start using Merrill for what it intended when it bought the beleaguered investment bank in January: to develop wealth management products.

NEW YORK - After the terrible performance of markets last year, disgruntled investors of all sizes are considering switching financial advisers to someone else, even if their own adviser buffered their portfolio so that it lost less than the market's overall 38% decline.