Many of the largest banks are wielding highly valued stock at a time that Silicon Valley innovators are looking to wrest away business. Mergers and acquisitions are one way for banks to both scale up and adapt.

Morgan Stanley’s merger a quarter century ago with a brokerage that had branches in Sears was met with sneers. Now, the firm is taking another stab at luring mom-and-pop investors.

Long associated with catering to the wealthiest clients, Morgan is also astute enough to see which way the winds are blowing for the industry.

The wirehouse has big reasons to pursue the deal, but the online brokerage's 225 independent advisor firms are not among them.

The RIA’s revenues blow past $1 billion, but industry observers note fierce competition among rival buyers.

Seniors choosing between traditional and Roth IRAs must account for their current and future tax rates.

The acquisition is the latest demonstration of firms merging banking, wealth management and digital services to meet clients' every financial need.

The all-in-one platform model is attracting some of the largest firms as consumers increasingly acclimate to housing all their financial needs under one roof.

The all-stock takeover adds E-Trade’s $360 billion of client assets to Morgan Stanley’s $2.7 trillion.

The asset manager was stuck at $700 billion in AUM for 18 months. Faced with a grim reality, Franklin made the obvious move: It got bigger in a hurry.