Money Management Executive Latest News

Although independent registered investment advisers are optimistic about the future of their businesses and the stock market, they are worried about the time and money associated with pending regulatory changes, according to a new survey by TD Ameritrade Institutional, a division of TD Ameritrade.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney characterized its outlook for 2011 with the phrase “recovery becomes expansion.” The business-cycle recovery in the global economy that began in the summer of 2009 is now an expansion, it says in a new report.

Hedge fund managers found it a little easier to hang out their own shingles in the third quarter.

While 2010 represented a modest improvement for mergers and acquisitions, the market for initial public offerings surged back to life, as domestic IPO activity eclipsed the previous two years, according to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Get ready for a strong recovery in 2011, as corporate profits will boost the markets, predicts kasina CEO Steven Miyao. By mid-year, positive flows into equities will exceed flows into bonds, he said.

The new retirement plan requirement to disclose all fees will be particularly difficult for non-registered investments, such as bank collective funds, separately managed accounts and annuities, the SPARK Institute warns. Thus, it is developing standards to facilitate disclosure.

Consumers are considering investing again, with the personal help of financial advisers, the Insured Retirement Institute found from a panel survey of 24 retirees and pre-retirees conducted by Maslansky, Luntz and Partners.

Americans’ financial outlook is improving, according to the December Country Financial Security Index. Thirty-eight percent rate their financial security positively, and another 15% sense their financial security is improving.

Global mergers rose 19% this year from last year and the top M&A adviser in 2010 was Goldman Sachs, according to data published by Thomson Reuters.

Assets in U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded products surpassed $1 trillion for the first time, reached $1.027 trillion on Dec. 16, BlackRock said.