Portfolio

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. agreed to sell its U.K. variable-annuity business to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. for about $285 million in cash.

Hartford Funds has appointed three new advisor consultants to support its regional growth.

OppenheimerFunds, the U.S. investment fund that manages about $208 billion, has sued Doux SA in New York, claiming it’s owed almost $74 million by the French poultry producer placed under administration.

Last year, global asset managers experienced their highest operating margins since 2007, according to a new survey by consultant Casey Quirk and research shop McLagan.

With a new managed accounts platform, Merrill Lynch advisors will be able to turn to one website instead of five to answer a single client question – “How am I doing?”

It’s not all good news on Wall Street these days.

Assets of all exchange-traded funds rose in May by $12.14 billion to $1.481 trillion, according to the Investment Company Institute. Over the past 12 months, ETF assets rose $365.27 billion, or 32.7%.

More than 80% of people who do not work with a financial advisor only plan their finances for the short term, according to a new global survey by deVere Group, the world’s largest independent international financial consultancy group.

Bond yields and risk spreads were too low two months ago and global markets that were too levered are now derisking, according to Bill Gross, manager of the world’s largest mutual fund at Pacific Investment Management Co.

Increasing emphasis on client satisfaction may be changing the way wealth managers get paid and how they are evaluated.