Corporate finance

With the board still conducting a hiring search, the strategy for fixing past problems and returning to revenue growth remains in flux.

The company’s acquisition will allow it to target prospective clients who are still in the wealth creation phase of life, says CEO James Gorman.

The firm is benefiting some referrals from Bank of America’s other business units.

Headcount is down more than 1,250 since a fake accounts scandal came to light in 2016.

Dan Arnold received $7.1 million in 2018, far below the longer-tenured chiefs of rival firms Ameriprise and Raymond James.

The hit to wealth management from a difficult trading environment was already visible in the fourth quarter.

Commissions and cash-sweep revenue jumped by more than a combined $100 million in 2018 — even as the parent firm’s longtime chairman left the company.

Fourth-quarter equity losses stanched client assets at wirehouses, indies and other brokerages — but their stocks are regaining ground after reporting earnings.

The network’s parent disclosed the results of its first year under a new accounting standard affecting the top line at many large U.S. businesses.

Third-party providers can boost AUM, but due diligence is critical.

The tax-focused IBD’s custodial and platform transition is taking longer than the company or its advisors expected.

The firm cut its headcount by 22% while boosting productivity by 48% in 2018, and it plans to roll out a new desktop platform for its 1,060 representatives.

The firm’s efforts to attract talent away from rivals boosted headcount by a net 57 advisors in 2018.

CEO Dan Arnold pledged new tech-enhanced support for advisors as part of a larger cultural transformation.

The firm suffered from market volatility in the fourth quarter.

An uptick in retirements dampened the firm’s efforts to expand its brokerage ranks.

The firm’s new leader Penny Pennington tapped managers, one a longtime veteran of the firm, for the executive committee.

Increased volatility, rising protectionism and geopolitical tensions are still weighing on investors, the firm said.

Overseeing money for the rich is supposed to be one of the best businesses in banking, but even the world’s biggest wealth manager is finding that it doesn’t always work out like that.