Industry

Eight former Morgan Keegan & Co. mutual-fund directors agreed to settle U.S. regulatory claims that they allowed assets backed by subprime mortgages to be overvalued as the housing market collapsed in 2007.

Northern Lights Distributors has appointed Brian Nielsen as chief executive officer and Bill Wostoupal as president, effective immediately.

Barnaby Grist, Cetera’s executive vice president of wealth management and a high-profile hire from Charles Schwab in 2010, is stepping down to care for his parents in England and his wife’s parents on the East Coast, says a spokeswoman for the broker-dealer network.

FUSE Research has picked up yet another British beau.

Dallas should be a dream market for independent advisors. But unlike the San Francisco, it has not been as hospitable to independent wealth management firms.

Brian T. Moynihan, who endured record losses and public thrashings while cleaning up Bank of America Corp.’s mortgage mess, said he wouldn’t mind being chief executive officer of the lender forever.

UBS still sees a “challenging environment” for its wealth management business as clients remain reluctant to invest on a large scale, Chairman Axel Weber said.

American Century Investments has named Joseph Schultz as Head of Intermediary Sales, responsible for the firm’s field and internal sales businesses, including wirehouses, regional and independent advisors, registered investment advisors, insurance company advisors and broker-dealer key account management.

Manulife Asset Management has expanded its equity capabilities today.

Waddell & Reed has hired five new advisors, adding about 1,000 new household clients to the firm.