Merrill Lynch

The Munster Freeman Group will add to Wells Fargo's offerings for wealthy and ultrawealthy clients with offices in the Los Angeles area, Arizona and Colorado.

Merrill wealth co-head Eric Schimpf says the firm does about as good a job as its rivals in drawing in net new assets. But given Merrill's relationship with Bank of America, "We can do better."

Along with bringing in new households and assets, the Bank of America wealth management units are turning to loans, alternative assets and other offerings to do more with existing clients.

Merrill had sought a temporary restraining order to prevent members of a large Atlanta-based team who left last week from soliciting former clients for their new firm.

In a lengthy court reply, advisors who left Merrill this week to form an RIA with Dynasty Financial Partners accuse Merrill of "bad faith" for putting them on administrative leave and failing to reinvest in their business.

Even as interest rates fall, investors keep piling into money market funds. Advisors think many could be putting their money to better uses.

Merrill is also adjusting the incentives it gives advisors for steering clients into banking products.

Merrill accuses industry rivals of conspiring with a group of former employees to remove confidential client information and trade secrets for the formation of a new RIA.

Firms are increasingly looking to provide high net worth clients with services stretching beyond basic wealth management. The offerings include everything from help with cybersecurity to taking out complicated loans.

Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank seeks niche private equity opportunities for its ultrawealthy clients, while Goldman looks to retirement savers and Wells Fargo to everyday investors.

The up-and-coming IBD Arkadios recruits an entire Morgan Stanley team and a significant share of Merrill's headcount in Dothan, Alabama.

Emily Dreas, who became a senior executive for the firm's New York market earlier this year, has been busy filling out the firm's leadership ranks with hires from industry rivals.

But the Bank of America subsidiaries nonetheless reported rises in AUM and net revenue in the second quarter while adding thousands of new client relationships.

Executives at Merrill's parent firm, Bank of America, told analysts in a call that nearly two-thirds of their wealth management clients now have banking relationships with the firm.

As the head of the investment solutions group at Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank, Nancy Fahmy ensures the firm's advisors have access to investments they recommend to investors.

A federal judge agrees with Merrill that deferred compensation is a bonus used to reward employee loyalty rather than a retirement benefit protected by federal law.

Across the last five years of Financial Planning's 40 under 40 list, a few key insights have emerged about where the industry is at — and where it's headed.

In an industry with too few advisors, many say the failure rate for newcomers remains disconcertingly high. But brokers on Financial Planning's top 40 under 40 list say they wouldn't be where they are without early career training.

In the year ahead, private equity, exchange traded funds and tax-loss harvesting promise to be top priorities for advisors leading the pack.

Regulators took the wirehouses to task for not having policies directing advisors to consider clients' best interests.