Industry

While regulatory costs pulled-down full-year profits, the giant IBD seemed to turn a page at year end with a 9.8% spike in fourth-quarter earnings.

The advisors collectively managed nearly $2 billion in assets.

The robo advisor plans to add 90 to 120 new employees and add resources to Betterment Institutional, which already works with 90 advisory firms.

A U.S. probe into how Morgan Stanley client information ended up for sale on the Internet is examining whether a financial advisor was targeted by hackers after he took data from the bank, two people briefed on the inquiry said.

A wealth manager, with $65 million in client assets before he left the regional broker-dealer, joined an independent firm affiliated with SagePoint Financial.

The board left his salary unchanged at $1.5 million and he received no cash bonus, a person with knowledge of the decisions said.

Two former UBS advisors with over $120 million in client assets have signed on with Aegis Capital Group, an independent broker-dealer and RIA.

Regional broker-dealer Wunderlich Securities recruited two wirehouse advisors.

Branch closings draw big headlines, but several large banks are entering new markets — or bulking up in underrepresented cities — by adding branches and hiring lenders. Bank of America, for instance, is planning a retail push in Denver and Minneapolis.

At Halbert Hargrove, Russ Hill has brought the firm through one transition after another. Now he's creating his own exit strategy.