The London Stock Exchange Group and TMX Group of Toronto said Wednesday they would combine operations in “an all-share merger of equals.’’

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has reorganized its personal retirement solutions business.

In an effort to develop jumpstart its exchange-traded fund business, Russell Investments announced Wednesday it plans to buy U.S. One Inc., a registered investment advisor and ETF provider.U.S. One is the investment advisor to the One Fund, an ETF traded on the New York Stock Exchange that provides exposure to 95% of the world’s stock markets with the objective of long-term investment growth.

In an SEC filing, Grail Advisors, a provider of actively managed exchange-traded funds launched in January 2009, indicates it may be in the process of being acquired. Should that fail, it may liquidate its actively managed ETFs.

While 2010 represented a modest improvement for mergers and acquisitions, the market for initial public offerings surged back to life, as domestic IPO activity eclipsed the previous two years, according to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Global mergers rose 19% this year from last year and the top M&A adviser in 2010 was Goldman Sachs, according to data published by Thomson Reuters.

Salient Partners LP, a $16 billion Houston-based wealth manager, has agreed to buy RDG Capital LLC, a Houston boutique wealth advisory firm.

Broadridge has acquired financial services client communications firm Forefield for $19.5 million.

Northern Trust bought Waterline Partners LLC, a Los Angeles investment advisory firm serving affluent individuals and families.The price of the deal, which closed Wednesday, was not disclosed.

Capgemini has acquired IT firm Thesys Technologies Private Ltd. of India. Terms of the deal were not released.

Broadridge Financial Solutions agreed to acquire Matrix Financial Solutions, a provider of retirement products and services for investment administrators, financial advisoers, banks and wealth management professionals.

CI Financial has entered into an agreement to acquire The Hartford’s Canadian mutual fund business, Hartford Investments Canada Corp., which has C$1.75 billion in assets under management. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Morningstar has entered into a definite agreement to acquire the annuity intelligence business of Advanced Sales and Marketing for $14.1 million.

Volatile equities markets and heightened EU sovereign credit risk during the second quarter of 2010 have drawn significant attention to mutual fund performance. Beyond the challenges posed by the current market environment, mutual fund managers are also contending with a variety of strategic, operational and tactical changes that are reshaping their firms and the industry as a whole. Three key areas that should be firmly in their sights are:

On the heels of its $4.9 billion acquisition of Hewitt Associates, Chicago-based Aon Corp. announced a three-year restructuring plan centered on eliminating 1,500 to 1,800 jobs, which it expects will save the company $280 million annually.

State Street Corp., known for its passive asset management, may soon expand its small active management business.

Charles Schwab Corp. announced Monday that it has agreed to buy Windward Investment Management Inc., a Boston investment advisory firm.

Despite the fact mergers and acquisitions have gone dormant this year, deals are expected to surge in the next six months.

Bank of America is rumored to be considering selling its 34% stake in BlackRock, according to The Wall Street Journal. Now the question is whether the bank is looking to get out of asset management altogether.

Nuveen Investments Inc. announced Thursday it will buy FAF Advisors from U.S. Bancorp.