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Brokerage firm Benjamin F. Edwards & Co. has hired a three-member team from Wells Fargo Advisors for a new Panama City, Fla. branch as part of its national expansion.

Investment advisor advocates are breathing easier after the Department of Labor announced Monday that it has pulled its current proposal on the definition of a fiduciary off the table. The agency will take up the issue in early 2012 and repropose a fiduciary definition after more industry input.

A group of regulators and lobbyists speaking at an industry conference this weekend laid out a possible timetable for the implementation of new Dodd-Frank-related regulations affecting financial planners.

In a period of high market volatility like now, many mutual funds can be capital gains time bombs for investors including those buy-and-hold types who do just as their advisors recommend and sit tight while everyone else is fleeing the market.

GuidedChoice has created a retirement plan “reality check” for participants to see how well prepared they are for retirement and how much income their savings will produce. The program also guides them to save more and offers access to professional advice.

Invesco has launched the PlanForward Consulting Series, aimed at helping 401(k) advisers and consultants “build a compelling value proposition and enhance their brand recognition.”

News of a possible double-dip recession and extreme stock market volatility prompted 40% of Americans to reduce their spending in the past 60 days, according to the September Bankrate Financial Security Index.

Bitterly ironic as it may be, a top operations executive at UBS was scheduled to speak Wednesday at the international conference on banking operations known as SIBOS in Toronto. His topic: settlement risk.

UBS AG updated the loss from its unauthorized trading scandal on Sunday to $2.3 billion from its previous $2 billion estimate, and also provided more details on how the alleged fraud was perpetrated.

Around the time they turn 50, many people unconsciously begin to ratchet up their spending. Instead, prominent retirement planning scholar Alice P. Munnell thinks financial planners need to wage a campaign to get their clients to hit the pause button at this crucial midpoint in their lives.