Subject Root Tag

They don't have the big-chip cache of the large-cap funds or the diamond-in-the-rough promise of the small caps, but mid-cap mutual funds have consistently outperformed both of those asset classes over the past decade and there's no reason to think that trend will end anytime soon.

Continuing a comeback after a difficult 2010, annuity sales through banks topped $4 billion in March to reach their highest level since exactly two years earlier, according to research firm Kehrer-LIMRA.

Lincoln Financial Group unveiled Lincoln InStep, an educational program for retirement plan participants designed to raise advisors awareness of products, services and strategies to help defined benefit contributors maximize their retirement savings investments.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined Chicago-based Nuveen Investments $3 million for creating and distributing misleading brochures to promote the sale of auction rate preferred securities.

Exchange traded funds continue to gain in popularity with both retail and institutional investors but actively managed ETFs represent only a tiny fraction of the more than $1.1 trillion in assets trading in U.S. ETFs.

By listening to what individual investors are saying, wealth management firms can better serve various age demographics and clients, Bank of America President of Global Wealth Investment Sallie Krawcheck said at a FINRA panel.

They plan to boost their staff by 30% over the next 12 months, Fidelity finds.

Despite assertions they got off easy in Dodd-Frank, foreign banks operating in the U.S. are increasingly worried they will be targeted by some of the law's toughest provisions.

Two big-bank executives said that unless Congress delays Dodd-Frank's cap on debit interchange fees, they are ready with options for new consumer and merchant fees.

Given the rocky results of past couplings, rival brokerages and observers will be closely watching Sterne Agee & Leach's acquisition of an unidentified bank.

The schizophrenic behavior of the U.S. economy in the past six months has forced large consumer products firms to look outside their own empires for new revenue sources. Fortunately, most of them have plenty of cash to spend.

Although the unemployment rate in the U.S. is 9%, three-quarters of broker-dealers and registered investment advisors plan to hire in the next 12 months, and they plan to boost their staff by an average of 30%, Fidelity Investments found in a survey.

College graduates who applied sound planning with following their passions had a much more satisfying college experience—and less debt—than those who did not, according to a study from Fidelity Investments.

IndexIQ has launched the IQ Hong Kong Small Cap ETF, which it says it the first exchange-traded fund to focus on the sector. It will track the IQ Hong Kong Small Cap Index.

Still, a majority of class of 2011 respondents, 66%, who are graduating with debt say the value of college is equal to or worth more than the debt accumulated.

In the May issue of Financial Planning magazine, I discussed how client perceptions may have changed over the past three years. I use the term Client 2.0 to describe this more-cautious and aware buyer, and offered thoughts on how you can better connect using an evolved Client Communications 2.0 plan. I spoke with several smart, accomplished advisors and industry consultants such as Ed Jacobson, Steve Saenz, Carol Anderson and Amy Mullen to hear their comments.…

Credit unions and small banks can offer the same high level of investment products and services as other institutions, with the right type of program in place. Helping them do that is Valorie Seyfert, who notes that recent concerns about the credibility of larger institutions “has opened up the opportunity for banks and credit unions – because they do have a loyal following – to step in and fill a gap.”

While Congress, the SEC and individual states continue to work out the precise definition of a fiduciary and precisely what his or her requirements will be going forward, RIAs and other financial services professionals still need to take it upon themselves to implement best practices that will ensure they'll be in compliance whenever these new regulations are finalized.

Barclays Wealth announced on Wednesday that it hired five new Investment Representatives in its Philadelphia, Chicago and Atlanta offices.