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Despite a tough third quarter, RBC Wealth Management is doubling down and investing in an ambitious growth strategy as it looks to come out ahead post-crisis.

The SEC filed a cease-and-desist order against noted investment advisor and radio personality Ray Lucia, alleging a series of misleading statements in retirement-strategy seminars plugging Lucia's "buckets of money" strategy.

Indexed annuity sales increased 8.3% and income annuities were up 6.1% in the second quarter, according to Beacon Research. It was the second-best quarter ever for those product types, Beacon said in a press release. Total fixed annuity sales were also up, but with a more muted 1% gain in the quarter. And they declined 17.2% from the year-ago period. …

Firms need to foster real loyalty between themselves and their investor-clients, especially if advisors continue to leave, says Arthur Levitt, the former chairman of the SEC.

Global assets invested in exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded products reached a record $1.76 trillion through the end of August 2012.

Robert Ceccarelli and John Hursh collectively manage more than $148 million in assets and produce nearly $1 million in revenue. They will join Ameriprise's employee advisor channel and be located in the New Haven, Conn.

Global assets invested in exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded products eclipsed the $1.7 trillion threshold in August - an all-time high.

With 478 advisors in 40 states, Independent Financial Partners is LPL's largest branch, but the Tampa, Fla., based firm certainly won't rest on those laurels. Currently, less than a dozen IFP advisors are fee-only, according to William Hamm Jr., the company's CEO, but that is about to change.

As investing in alternatives such as real estate, private equity funds, hedge fund strategies and commodities grow in popularity, the way these are being used by institutions and investment advisors is changing.

Can it possibly be? Technology stocks are paying the most dividends?

In a nod to the competitive pricing pressure roiling the financial services industry, Advisor Group, one of the largest independent broker-dealer networks in the nation, has eliminated, or drastically reduced, the mutual fund fees it was charging to clients of its financial advisors.

The pullout from domestic stock funds continued last week, to the tune of $3.7 billion. But bond funds got another big influx.

Former E-Trade general counsel Russell Elmer has joined the Lending Club as the online lending platform's deputy general counsel.

While neither Obama nor Romney favors a megabank breakup, delegates at both the GOP and Democratic conventions indicated broad bipartisan support.

Stephen Luparello, vice chairman at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is leaving after more than 16 years to take a job at a Washington law firm, the brokerage industry's self-regulator said in a statement.

Pimco's Gross says investors face an "age of inflation, which typically provides a headwind, not a tailwind, to securities prices -- both stocks and bonds."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average moved up 11.54 points Wednesday to finish at 13,047.48 while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 fell 5.79 points and 1.50 points, respectively.

The pullout from domestic stock funds continued last week, to the tune of $3.7 billion. But bond funds got another big influx.

Keith Bernard, former Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sales, at Pax World Management, has left the firm, Money Management Executive has learned.

After a decline in advisor headcount and legal expenses hurt revenue, the firm continues to invest in efforts to expand its retail brokerage unit.