Investments

Southern California-based Beacon Pointe Wealth Advisors has another notch on its belt.

The 50 largest asset managers accounted for more than US$38 trillion in assets under management at the end of 2012. This is a full US$4 trillion more than the year before, even as the biggest firms in the industry continue to enlarge, according to The Cerulli Report: Global Markets 2013.

A week after adding four advisors with $533 million in assets, the firm said it added another round of brokers with a combined $508 million.

(Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp. will pay $39 million to settle a discrimination lawsuit brought on behalf of women employees at its Merrill Lynch unit, according to court filings.

The worst rout in the $3.7 trillion municipal-bond market in more than two years is proving a gift for wealthy investors buying through brokers and professional asset managers who see a chance to make long-term money.

With heavyweights like Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO) throwing its hat into the managed futures mutual fund ring, interest from both investors and asset management in this investment vehicle appears to be rising.

Bank of America Corp. will pay $39 million to settle a discrimination lawsuit brought on behalf of women employees at its Merrill Lynch unit, according to court filings.

A $495 million competitive sale of Arkansas general obligation bonds will lead primary market activity this week in the municipal bond market as long-term volume increases after last week’s holiday lull.

Bloomberg -- Morgan Stanley Chief Executive Officer James Gorman said there’s almost no chance of another financial crisis like the one that endangered his firm five years ago.

Lincoln joins about a dozen companies who either offer or have filed to offer an annuity product that is gaining traction in the market.

Help wanted: Must have proven leadership ability, strong sales skills and big ideas.

As the mutual fund universe becomes more crowded and the strategies offered to investors become more complex, fund managers are under pressure to further differentiate themselves and their brands from the competition.

Morgan Stanley Chief Executive Officer James Gorman said there’s almost no chance of another financial crisis like the one that endangered his firm five years ago.

Larry Roth, former president and chief executive officer of Advisor Group, one of the country’s largest networks of independent broker-dealers, is joining Realty Capital Securities, a major broker-dealer and wholesaler of real estate investment trusts, as chief executive officer.

The country’s 20th-largest independent broker has a new name and a new pitch to independent advisors.

Investcorp's U.S.-based Hedge Fund business announced that Elena Ranguelova has come on board as Head of Credit and Equity Strategies.

FINRA is scaling back on "supersized" fines.

Bloomberg -- A year ago, when opposition from the asset-management industry killed her plan to make money-market mutual funds safer, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro looked to Timothy Geithner, then the Treasury Secretary, to tackle “one of the pieces of unfinished business from the financial crisis.”

Options have been used in asset management for several decades, but due to current market conditions asset managers' interest has been renewed in this strategy. With bonds in a bear market and an equity market meandering horizontally, these managers are embracing options as a way to generate income while protecting against the downside.

In the second quarter, fixed annuities experienced highest quarterly sales since 2011, according to data from Morningstar and Beacon Research.