Portfolio

From veteran advisors battling to keep clients away from financial danger, to some of the top schools grooming the next generation of advisors, 2012 has been a year of both growth and opportunity for the financial advisory sector.

For the week ended Dec. 12, investors pulled an estimated $6.57 billion from mutual funds, their biggest weekly withdrawal this year.

After a round of changes this year in the financial advice industry, some big players found themselves in diminished circumstances by year’s end. Here’s a look at some of the people, organizations and ideas that ended the year in a downturn.

With the financial advice industry going through a period of change, we took a look at the past year to see how the players shook out. Here’s a look at some of the people, organizations and ideas that ended the year in a sweeter position than they began it.

AdvisorShares is currently prepping to launch an alternative income exchange-traded fund in early 2013.

Invesco PowerShares Capital Management today said it plans to close 13 ETFs, which represent less than 1% of Invesco PowerShares’ total assets.

Gemini Fund Services and Arrow Investment Advisors today unveiled their exchange-traded fund initiative, the Northern Lights ETF Trust (NLET), which will bring “innovative” ETFs to market.

Americans held $5 trillion in all employer-based DC retirement plans on September 30, of which $3.5 trillion was held in 401(k) plans, according to data from the Investment Company Institute.

The old-school model of hiring an investment consultant to dispense advice to sponsors of pension funds and endowments about prospective investment managers is passing away.

Belinda Sherman has been promoted to president of The Huntington Investment Company, reporting to Steven Short, director of Huntington Wealth Advisors.