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In an effort to continue its national expansion, U.S. Trust, a unit of Bank of America, has hired 14 wealth management executives.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined Dallas-based financial services company Southwest Securities Inc. $500,000 for soliciting violations related to its municipal securities business.

A well-prepared professional approaches turbulence and dire conditions that present themselves calmly and confidently, performance consultant Dr. Rick Jensen told attendees of the Bank Investment and Securities Association in the closing keynote Tuesday.

"Banks are struggling with where to get more revenues because of fee reductions,” said Rob Comfort, head of Huntington Investments. “This gives us an opportunity to play a prominent role.”

Social media has become an inescapable force, but many in the financial services industry are still holding back from using it.

Client satisfaction and loyalty are poor indicators of a likelihood to refer. Julie Littlechild, President of Advisor Impact, de-mystifies the process for advisors attending the FPA Business Solutions Conference 2011.

The brokerage adds Rob Pietroburgo from Wells Fargo to its Springfield, Ill., branch as part of its advisor and branch expansion strategy.

Since the recession, institutions have had difficulties garnering trust, with 75% of those surveyed in a recent Capco/Tower study saying their trust in large institutions decreased after 2008. Making matters worse, 25% of financial advisors and wealth managers are leaving their firms and going independent, taking trusted client relationships with them, said Alvi Abuaf of FIS in a breakfast session at the ABA Wealth Management Conference Tuesday.

New advisor growth increased by more than 60% from a year earlier.

The company added six wealth executives in California, two in St. Louis, two in Washington state, one in Portland, Ore., one in Nasvhille, one in Portland, Maine, and one in Chicago.

The “Tax Insights” information is available online at Putnam’s advisor website and new wealth management center.

Concerns about rising oil prices and an end to the stock market rally once quantitative easing ends has caused 40% of hedge fund managers to be bearish on U.S. equities, up from 26% in January, according to the TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Survey of Hedge Fund Managers. And only 26% are bullish, down from 37%.

Sales rose 18% in the fourth quarter to $37.6 billion.

Wells Fargo will hire 1,000 bankers in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia in the next few months as it beefs up staffing at former Wachovia branches, the company said.

The 27-page term sheet handed to the five largest mortgage servicers last week is a detailed, dense list of requirements that, if implemented as proposed, would fundamentally change the relationship between servicers, investors and borrowers.

For three days, 610 bank investment advisors, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors assembled in Hollywood, Fla., for insights and ideas on the industry. Check out some of the images in this photo gallery.

Last year, wirehouses were hot. This year, they are not. At least not with banks trying to recruit additional registered representatives.

Hendel is set to start in New York in June as managing director and head of global prime brokerage.

Being financially prepared for retirement consistently ranks at or near the top of investors' lists of priorities regardless of their age, ethnicity, income level or gender. But this basic albeit mundane goal was largely forgotten by fund managers, financial advisors and even investors themselves in the past decade as cheap loans and skyrocketing home prices distracted many from the big picture.

Sixty percent to 80% of all interpersonal communication is non-verbal, which means everything financial advisors do is meaningful, said Joe Navarro, author of “Louder Than Words” in his luncheon speech at the ABA Wealth Management Conference.