Portfolio

Investors are favoring U.S. stocks over emerging markets by the most ever as fund flows and volatility measures show institutions are increasingly seeking the relative safety of American equities.

BLOOMBERG -- The U.S. government urged General Motors Co. (GM) to improve pensions of some Delphi Automotive Plc (DLPH) union retirees while cutting those of salaried workers to help ensure a speedy emergence from a GM bankruptcy, the watchdog of the Troubled Asset Relief Program said.

Alternatives juggernaut Blackstone joined the likes of other fellow private investment firms The Carlyle Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) last month as the asset management practice continues its revolutionary switch in business focus out of institutional coffers and into the retail investment space.

Advisors, keep your eyes open for a new product that’s designed to help clients make investment decisions themselves that align with their values.

Merrill Lynch & Co. may be dead, but long live Merrill Lynch. While Bank of America has announced plans to dissolve Merrill Lynch & Co. as soon as the fourth quarter of this year, but the roughly 14,000 advisors operating in its brokerage division shouldn't see a name change.

These are stressful times for the mutual fund industry. An obvious statement, but one authored by a colleague ten years ago. Even more interesting is that the trends cited then are the same concerns that we hear from clients today. So what has changed?

Carson's coaching firm, Peak Advisor Alliance and digital content firm, Faulkner Media Group have joined forces to create a new digital content service for advisors.

AllianceBernstein L.P and W.P. Stewart & Co., Ltd. announced yesterday that the two firms have entered into a definitive agreement under which AllianceBernstein, a global investment management firm with $444 billion in assets under management, will acquire W.P. Stewart, an equity investment manager that currently manages $2 billion in U.S., Global and EAFE concentrated growth equity strategies for institutional and retail clients, primarily in the U.S. and Europe.

Proceed with care. That’s what bankers, accountants and wealth managers are telling same-sex couples considering financial changes because of the Supreme Court’s rejection of a federal law denying them benefits.

More than two-thirds of all students who graduate from a higher-education program that grants a degree or certificate in financial planning do not sit for the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards exam, according to new research from the CFP Board.