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The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Los Angeles district office has obtained an emergency court order halting all operations and freezing the assets of a company it says has been “creating the illusion” for seven years that it was taking investors’ money and investing it in life settlements.

Many financial advisors look for opportunities to win the 401(k) business of local employers because it both provides them with some immediate revenue and, more important, steers cross-selling business their way as employees get to know them and turn to them for financial advice -- especially as they retire and bring them their rolled-over assets to invest.

Evercore Wealth Management in New York has recruited a team of portfolio and asset managers from a division of Wells Fargo Bank to staff its new Midwest regional headquarters in Minneapolis.

Allianz announced Tuesday it is rolling up its Allianz asset management division and PIMCO units into a new structure to be called Allianz Asset Management, effective Jan. 1.

The dot-com crash and the Great Recession have taken a serious and lasting toll on the risk appetites of Generation Y, according to the latest MFS Investing Sentiment Survey. This generation, between the ages of 18 and 30, are “investing more like their parents and grandparents, many of whom grew up in the shadows of the Great Depression,” said William Finnegan, senior managing director of U.S. retail marketing for MFS.

Deloitte Consulting has promoted Elizabeth Krentzman from principal to head of its mutual fund practice, a new position at the firm that oversees its auditing, tax, financial advisory and consulting businesses for the fund industry.

Franklin Templeton has launched the Franklin Templeton Global Allocation Fund, which will take a tactical asset allocation approach and consistently adjust its allocations to a widely diversified portfolio of equities, fixed income, cash and derivatives.

Forty-two percent of hedge fund managers became bearish on stocks in August, up markedly from 27% who were pessimistic on equities in July, according to a survey by BarclayHedge and TrimTabs Investment Research. This is the largest percentage of bearish hedge fund managers in a year.

Natixis Global Advisors has acquired a controlling interest in Darius Capital Partners, an investment advisor that offers a menu of third-party hedging strategies. These include Undertakings for the Collective Investment of Transferable Securities (UCITs), managed accounts, hedge funds, hedge fund replicators, funds-of-funds and alternative exchange-traded funds.

Nasdaq OMX Group said a London broker is installing software from its SMARTS subsidiary to monitor trading activity across a series of derivatives markets for potential abuses.