Capital markets

Compliance and former SEC lawyers say remaining industry regulators will prioritize preventing imminent investor harm while putting off some paperwork and routine tasks.

The plan to issue shares on the NASDAQ stock exchange comes three years after UBS abandoned plans to acquire Wealthfront.

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

The regulator's Investor Advisory Committee said policymakers could abandon asset and income thresholds for determining who can put money into private markets and instead adopt a "sophistication" standard.

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.

Private assets promise potentially greater returns and more diversification for investors, but financial advisors say their opaque and illiquid nature makes them less than ideal for most 401(k) plan participants.

The brokerage giant's asset tally rose to a record high of $10.76 trillion in the second quarter.

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.

In an earnings call Tuesday, CEO Charlie Scharf credited brokers in the firm's branches for working with consumer bankers for a 10% increase in new assets.

CEO Kunal Kapoor and other speakers explained how the shifting trends shaping the industry mean that advice is getting even more important.