Industry

Merrill Lynch is expected to head into a New York court Friday and hammer out a settlement that could potentially affect the deferred compensation of thousands of financial advisors that have left the firm since its 2008 combination with Bank of America.

BOK Financial Corp. has acquired The Milestone Group, a Denver registered investment advisor. The acquisition enhances BOK's presence in Denver and brings its assets under management and administration across all its subsidiaries to nearly $50 billion, the company said in a statement. BOK has maintained a presence in Denver through its local bank brand, Colorado State Bank and Trust, a 100-year-old company. The acquisition will strengthen the Colorado bank's wealth management business. .

Trust funds are typically plump with assets to manage. Now, RIAs may be able to keep those asset management fees, after trusts are funded, without having to disrupt back office operations.

A new online company, FutureAdvisor, aims to break open the market for sophisticated financial advice and make that service available not only to the wealthy, but to all investors. Launched in 2010, the Seattle-based startup says it already analyzes $4 billion in assets for its users and, today, it announced $5 million in new venture capital funding. …

LPL is determined to help advisors up their games in order to be able to serve clients who are generating new wealth or coming into possession of it.

Drew Brahos and Bruce Wetter will advise clients on portfolio management strategies and contribute to the team's investment research.

Eric Rosen, the co-head of UBS AG's fixed-income, currencies and commodities business for the Americas, is leaving the bank next month, about a year after he joined, to start a hedge fund.

Ameriprise has added two big producing teams from Wells Fargo and LPL.

Marvin Tuttle, the current exec director/CEO, had planned to retire in 2014 but moved up his exit due to family concerns. Schadle, who has been with the FPA and a predecessor group, the Institute of Certified Financial Planners (ICFP), since 1996, assumed her current post in 2006.

Proving that it is still in the competition for top advisory talent, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney has tapped competing firms to add nine new financial advisors with more than $1.22 billion in client assets under management to its forces.