Investments

Bloomberg -- Investment-grade corporate bonds are showing signs of life following the biggest losses since 2008 as concern wanes that a Federal Reserve pullback from record stimulus will cause a surge in interest rates.

Wedbush has expanded its operations in Southern California with the addition of a former Morgan Stanley advisor to its Newport Beach, Calif., office.

The search for yield has been a persistent and vexing challenge for anyone charged with managing money. But what are the options? How far out the curve do you have to go to find suitable opportunities? And how do you balance your yield appetite with potential credit and duration risk?

Foreign stocks generally pay higher dividends and offer great sector diversity for investors hunting yields, says Philip Camporeale of J.P. Morgan Asset Management. But beware the tax hit.

Bloomberg -- UBS AG, Switzerland’s largest bank, agreed to pay $120 million to settle claims by investors in Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. securities in a lawsuit tied to the investment bank’s 2008 collapse.

Many wealthy business owners are increasingly confident about their finances despite the slow economic recovery. According to the latest survey from Northern Trust, half of high-net-worth business owners are feeling better off in their personal financial situation than five years ago. The number that are confident they will achieve their personal financial goals reaches 69%.

Six in 10 penta-millionaires chose absolute returns and total assets to gauge their success, nearly identical to people in the lower-tier mass affluent segment.

The Federal Reserve governor leading the central bank’s effort to tighten financial regulation has a decision to make as its governing board is reshaped: Should he stay or should he go?

ING U.S. Investment Management has appointed Bas NieuweWeme as Managing Director and Head of Institutional Distribution. NieuweWeme, will oversee the institutional business, setting strategic direction across U.S. and international sales, consultant relations, RFPs, client service and relationship management. He will report to Shaun Mathews, Executive Vice President and Head of the Client Group.

Fund sponsors have long debated the relative merits of building, buying or outsourcing fund administration technology. As sponsors face more and more data-driven demands from regulators and investors, there is increased pressure to adopt new efficient technologies for fund administration process such as expense payments and budgeting, regulatory reporting and financial reporting.

Morgan Stanley and Co. has agreed to pay $100,000 to the New Jersey Bureau of Securities. This came after Bureau investigators found the company was in violation of state securities laws and regulations in its sale of non-traditional exchange-traded funds to investors.

Schwab is shaking up its ETF lineup. The company announced Thursday that on Aug. 15, Schwab Investment Management would be launching six new ETFs, weighted by fundamental factors instead of traditional market capitalization.

While the use of ETFs continues to surge, their low expense ratios appear to be most prized by multi-millionaires. Spectrem Group, a Chicago-based consulting and research firm, just reported that 28% of investors own ETFs, but 47% of UHNW investors hold them. Those ultra-affluent investors, according to Spectrem, are worth $5 million to $25 million, not counting their main home.

Private Advisor Group, the largest branch of LPL Financial, has hired Abby Salameh as part of the unit’s senior executive team as it expands its advisory services.

While the use of ETFs continues to surge, their low expense ratios appear to be most prized by multi-millionaires, according to a study by Spectrem Group.

The company announced Thursday that Schwab Investment Management would be introducing six new ETFs, weighted by fundamental factors instead of by traditional market capitalization.

Finding ways to reach shareholders with an appropriate message and choosing the medium to do so consumes the resources of many a fund company. Firms need to communicate bad news to shareholders in a gentle manner, trumpet the good news and economize the delivery of mandated disclosure information.

Institutional investors' allocations to dollar-denominated bonds have dropped to the lowest level since 2007 as strategists at Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co. see a shift away from the debt that may fuel higher borrowing costs.

First came the big airline mergers. Now two Dallas RIAs that focus on airline pilots have combined as well.

State Street Corporation named Roger M. Stein chief analytics officer for State Street Global Exchange.