Portfolio

Larkspur, Calif.-based Litman Gregory Asset Management has hired Meredith Shuey Etherington as senior investment advisor, providing investment advisory services to individuals, family groups, foundations, and endowments.

Asset management deal activity rose during the first four months of 2013 over the same period in 2012, according to a new report by Freeman & Co.

The number of disciplinary actions rose as the regulator invested in new platforms and technology to broaden oversight.

In the current issue of Bank Investment Consultant, contributor Michael White details some of the reasons that thousands of community banks have opted to not offer wealth management services to customers. White says these banks are making a mistake, and uses an analogy to outdated hi-fi audio systems to illustrate their backward thinking. He even offers his analysis in the form of an acronym: HI-FI.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has named Julie Riewe and Marshall Sprung as co-chiefs of the Division of Enforcement’s Asset Management Unit, a national specialized unit that focuses on misconduct by investment advisers, investment companies, and private funds.

The $2.1 trillion global exchange-traded fund industry has been growing at a rapid clip since the SPDR S&P 500 ETF was launched two decades ago as a means for institutional investors to access passive exposure to the S&P 500 Index.

Eighty percent of investors under the age of 40 don’t feel like they are getting adequate financial advice from their advisors, according to new findings from Cerulli Associates, leaving the doors wide open for asset managers and retirement plan recordkeepers to fill the advice gap.

Non-traditional investment allocations in defined contribution plans, while commonplace in defined benefit pension portfolios, are a rare sight in today's retirement plan lineup.

Should financial advisors leave their smaller accounts behind when they switch firms?

Mark Henneman and Ronald Kaliebe have been named lead managers of the Mairs & Power Growth Fund and Mairs & Power Balanced Fund respectively, effective July 1.