Money Management Executive Latest News

The breakaway broker phenomenon continues at Columbia State Bank, Tacoma, where the brokerage unit has hired three wirehouse veterans over the past six months, and the $5 billion-asset bank may not be done.

Advisers are missing opportunities to expand existing relationships and attract wealthy clients, according to a survey by ByAllAccounts, an account aggregator in Woburn, Mass.

SEC Votes 5:0 for New Target-Date Disclosures

Merrill Lynch debuts its first-ever online brokerage window today, Merrill Edge, consisting of 500,000 investors it inherited from Bank of America out of the gate.

The big three credit rating agencies have long made the disclaimer that investors should not use ratings as a substitute for independent judgment. Now regulators want banks to prove they aren't doing that.

American Banker's front-page story lays out the details of how the financial regulatory reform bill, now at a critical juncture in House-Senate conference committee, would change the banking and retail investment management industries: http://www.americanbanker.com/issues/175_117/senate-financial-reform-1021072-1.html

Citigroup Inc. plans to raise more than $3 billion for its private-equity and hedge funds, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.

Despite the resistance of small employers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the mutual fund industry in general, legislation to require companies with 10 employees or more to provide employees with a seamless lifetime savings plan through an Automatic IRA, is definitely gaining steam.

Is it possible the media has overhyped the interest level in conversions? Bank of America recently reported that its first quarter Roth IRA conversions surged beyond expectations (see MME 5/10/10). Earlier this year, MME reported that while Roth IRA conversions had the potential to put $3 trillion in play, some fund companies were treating this opportunity merely as a way to reconnect with clients to speak with them in a meaningful way about their retirement planning and tax situation.

Matt McGinness has a reputation for producing heavy hitting research in practice management.