Financial institutions

Sovereign Investment Group, a Texas independent wealth management firm, announced Wednesday it hired Michael Koletar as a senior vice president of investments for its wealth management team.

Merrill Lynch has added industry veteran Daniel Sandlin from Morgan Stanley.

The firm has added a team with over $500 million in production to its southern California offices.

Despite the volatility of the last few years and the continued economic malaise in much of the developed world, global stocks are still attractive, according to executives at Morgan Stanley.

Bank of America Corp. salespeople assigned to the world’s biggest stock portfolio managers were given new orders by their boss in September: attend at least 30 meetings a month with clients, or else.

Wells Fargo Advisors has promoted David Kowach to serve as president of the firm’s Private Client Group.

Many talented individuals are getting hired on Wall Street. But while it is great to hear that others are doing well, the first thing every job seeker wants to know is this: "How can I be one of them?"

Bank of America Corp.’s commercial customers are already reacting to the “fiscal cliff” looming over the U.S. budget by putting off purchases, Chief Executive Officer Brian T. Moynihan said.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein, grappling with a market slump that is putting trading earnings under pressure, said “sometimes cycles can last a very long time.”

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. plans to exit the South Korean asset management business amid sluggish global stock markets, according to three people with knowledge of the situation.

A career advisor with three-and-a-half decades of experience, Karl Rothermund has left Morgan Stanley for Raymond James in Scottsdale, Ariz.

After arming certain financial advisors with new designations aimed at winning more 401(k) consulting business this year, Bank of America Merrill Lynch says that that bet is paying off.

The firm has hired Harold Langer, a three-decade industry veteran, to be senior vice president at the Tucson branch.

It is “a fantastical suggestion” that the bank and its management knew and approved of Adoboli exceeding risk limits, prosecutor Sasha Wass told the London jury in closing arguments Thursday.

Advisors can calm clients who wanted a Romney victory.

Morgan Stanley, the Wall Street bank with the biggest trading-revenue increase last quarter, lost money in that business on eight days in the period, down from 31 days a year earlier.

After a $1.9 million loss in the fourth quarter, Southwest Securities' retail group reeled in a $319,000 profit for the first quarter of its fiscal year.

Industry veteran Nicolas Seigal joins RBC’s international wealth unit as branch manager in Miami.

UBS Wealth Management Americas has picked up a trio of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management advisors, as Morgan Stanley has snapped up a new advisor from Chase Investment Services.

The firm hit $19.9 billion in AUM in the third quarter of 2012, an 18% jump from $16.8 billion in the third quarter last year. Most of the increase came from new client inflows.