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Whether you're a sophisticated early adopter or a newbie to all the latest technology available to you and your firm, these stories should bring you up to speed about everything any financial advisor or firm needs to know about information technology to improve productivity and increase assets under management.

Walmart, the world’s largest private employer, and Merrill Lynch, without admitting to wrongdoing, have agreed to pay $13.5 million in a class-action lawsuit accusing them of breaching their fiduciary duty to 2 million past and present Walmart workers. The suit was settled in Kansas City federal court.

The Principal has launched the Dreamcatcher mobile application for iPhones, a companion to the Dreamcatcher web tool. This is part of Principal’s “Dream Again with The Principal” financial educational campaign aimed at helping people envision their financial goals and putting them into clear focus.

When planners help clients manage their wealth, it is important to help them recognize the deep emotional sources of philanthropy.

SIFMA spent $3.96 million on lobbying during the first three quarters of 2011, slightly outpacing its efforts for the same periods in 2008 and 2009, according to reports filed with the clerk of the U.S. House that contain information for both houses of Congress.

In 2012, the U.S. life and annuity insurance industry will be challenged to find ways to manage both capital and risk in an economically and politically uncertain year, while continuing to lay the groundwork for future growth, according to Ernst & Young's new Global Insurance Center U.S. Outlook report.

Wells Fargo has hired a four-member Morgan Stanley Smith Barney team operating as RDM/Dillion Group in Melville, N.Y.

National Financial, Fidelity Investment’s clearing and custody company, announced a new myStreetscape portal for investors working with brokers who use the Streetscape platform.

The Dow Jones Industrial average moved up 46 points to close at 12,196.37 Wednesday while the S&P 500 added 2.54 points to finish at 1,261.01.

Walmart, the world’s largest private employer, and Merrill Lynch, without admitting to wrongdoing, have agreed to pay $13.5 million in a class-action lawsuit accusing them of breaching their fiduciary duty to two million past and present Walmart workers. The suit was settled in Kansas City federal court.

Shrinking margins in the independent broker-dealer space have prompted another independent broker-dealer, Seattle-based Pacific West Financial Group, to close its doors.

The latest "safe haven" for investors appears to be, once again, gold. But this time, the avenue they’re taking to get the bullion into their portfolios is the exchange-traded fund.

The coming year will pose new questions about how to handle debt internationally and shape up as a new test for the U.S., in what will likely lead to a low-growth environment for investors.

Forty-six percent of Americans surveyed by Fidelity Investments cite saving more as their No. 1 financial resolution for 2012, and among this group, the median savings target is $2,400, up from $1,200 last year.

Mutual funds have a new competitor in the defined contribution market: collective investment trusts. These investments have been around for years but are now increasingly grabbing the attention of investors in defined contribution retirement plans.

Since 1977, the Gateway Fund has tried to shield investors from the bear market's bite. Here's how.

Equity-income funds provide a buffer against extreme market volatility.

To see if mortgage REITs might be right for your clients, analyze these companies like the levered bond funds they really are.

TD Ameritrade this week will roll out an upgrade of its open architecture platform’s integration with cloud-based electronic signature system DocuSign, as it streamlines DocuSign’s pairing with financial form-filling software Laser App.

NYSE Euronext said its trading in futures and options was up slightly in November. But stock trading in the United States was down 10% from a year ago.