Portfolio

What you don't know could negatively affect your clients' benefits.

New state laws pave the way for improved strategies and solutions in trust management.

The key to handling complex issues associated with succession and estate planning is remaining impartial.

As confidence in global currencies wanes, the world's appetite for gold will increase.

In the first 11 months of 2010, assets held in exchange-traded funds increased 19.4%, according to Investment Company Institute figures. In the last 11 months of 2010, assets grew 56.9%.

After three years of cautious spending and paying down debt, American households have significantly improved their balance sheets. Yet consumer confidence slipped this month as more people worried about the job outlook.

Although Bank of America Merrill Lynch forecasts modest global growth in 2011, it does predict that stock prices around the world will rise by more than 15% and that the S&P 500 will rise by 9%.

Exchange-traded funds have made for some ugly headlines. They played an integral role in the May 6 flash crash, and more recently a controversy erupted over whether prices could crash on heavily shorted ETFs. Though many consider those fears unfounded, these increasingly popular investments nonetheless pose risks, and financial advisers should be cautious.

For advisors in the bank channel, 2010 was a year of regulatory change, market rebounds and relative uncertainty. It was also a year of creativity, ingenuity and success. Here were some of our top stories from the year that was.

New data released from Morningstar shows two of its indexes faced a more difficult month in November, as the asset class in general falls short of matching 2009’s performance.