Portfolio

The firms have been sanctioned by the SEC for violating the custody rule that requires them to meet certain standards when maintaining custody of their clients’ funds or securities.

Lawmakers are set to begin debate today on a bill that would delay, perhaps indefinitely, a proposal by the Department of Labor to impose a fiduciary standard on advisors to retirement plans.

U.S. Stocks Rise as Lower Retail, Confidence Data Fuel Fed Bets

Treasury Five-Year Notes Rise on Bets Fed to Boost Sale Demand

Babson Capital Loan Fund Doubles Amid Demand for High-Yield Debt

Commentary: How to Speak With Customers

The Opsahl Group, led by senior advisor Joseph Opsahl and advisor Chris Hatfield, is leaving Merrill Lynch’s Private Client Group to work with True, a key Dynasty Financial Partners firm in the Pacific Northwest.

Here’s the argument for talking your clients into taking less risk today to get higher returns in the future.

The smallest stocks are rallying almost twice as fast as bigger companies in the U.S., a bullish economic signal from businesses whose profits are most dependent on domestic demand.

U.S. government bonds are acting more like equities than any time since before the credit crisis, makingTreasuries a hidden risk to investors becalmed by the prospect of the Federal Reserve prolonging stimulus into 2014.