“We expect this momentum to continue and potentially accelerate over the next five to seven years,” says investment banker David DeVoe.

Advisory firm mergers and acquisitions can be fraught with danger, so proceed with caution and keep these goals in mind.

Fidelity suspended sales of MetLife's annuities as the life insurer weighs a possible sale, spinoff or public offering of a retail unit that provides the retirement products.

Lightyear Chief Executive Donald Marron is getting a second chance to purchase the insurer's broker-dealer arm.

Legg Mason broadened its alternative investments capabilities and also made a deal to expand its ETF business.

Invesco acquired Jemstep, a robo solution for advisors, for an undisclosed sum. It's the latest in a line of digital advice moves from asset management giants, which began in earnest last year.

Chicago-based NextCapital announced a $16 million funding deal in mid-December that includes support from Manulife and AllianceBernstein. It had already found investors in 2014 from Russell Investments and Transamerica Ventures Fund.

Cedar Capital CEO Paul Ingersoll says he is confident in his firm's decision to acquire F-Squared's remaining assets, despite its past problems with the SEC.

Huntington Bancshares in Columbus, Ohio, has agreed to sell its fund-servicing business, Huntington Asset Services, to Ultimus Fund Solutions, a provider of back-office and other services for small and midsize advisers.

BlackRock has agreed to purchase an $87 billion money-market fund business from Bank of America as it builds scale in an industry grappling with new regulations.

Almost half of the $75 billion buyout loans arranged in the U.S. last year and tracked by Bloomberg in the secondary market are trading below their issue price.

OppenheimerFunds agreed to acquire VTL Associates as part of a push into ETFs that weigh metrics beyond market capitalization when buying stocks.

BlackRock said it is acquiring digital wealth management firm FutureAdvisor, joining the ever more crowded ranks of robo advisors.

Fidelity national information services $9.1 billion takeover of SunGard Data Systems seeks to jump-start business with the world's largest money managers.

The sudden closure of a TAMP spurred a competitor to seek a position to benefit from its demise, recognizing an opportunity to ramp up its growth plans, asset base and workforce.

Aberdeen Asset Management agreed to buy Arden Asset Management to expand its hedge-fund business.

Blackstone will sell an investment reporting service that it created initially for its own use to Ipreo, a data provider it acquired last year.

Goldman Sachs Group agreed to buy Imprint Capital Advisors, an asset-management firm that advises clients on investing based on their environmental, social and governance views.

Overall M&A deal values in the asset management industry surged last year to $12.7 billion compared to $2.6 billion in 2013, but growth was largely driven by a few mega-deals, as the total number of deals remained flat.

Nasdaq OMX is making a push to grab more ETN listings, challenging long- time market leader NYSE Arca for what can be lucrative listing and trading fees.