Mutual funds

Merrill Lynch & Co. may be dead, but long live Merrill Lynch. While Bank of America has announced plans to dissolve Merrill Lynch & Co. as soon as the fourth quarter of this year, but the roughly 14,000 advisors operating in its brokerage division shouldn't see a name change.

These are stressful times for the mutual fund industry. An obvious statement, but one authored by a colleague ten years ago. Even more interesting is that the trends cited then are the same concerns that we hear from clients today. So what has changed?

AllianceBernstein L.P and W.P. Stewart & Co., Ltd. announced yesterday that the two firms have entered into a definitive agreement under which AllianceBernstein, a global investment management firm with $444 billion in assets under management, will acquire W.P. Stewart, an equity investment manager that currently manages $2 billion in U.S., Global and EAFE concentrated growth equity strategies for institutional and retail clients, primarily in the U.S. and Europe.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined Oppenheimer and Co. $1,425,000 for the sale of unregistered penny stock shares and for failure to provide an adequate anti-money laundering (AML) compliance program, which would detect and report suspicious penny stock transactions.

Will LPL Financial be getting into the banking business? While the nation's largest independent broker-dealer says it has no “imminent” plans to own a bank, it now can if it wants to -- thanks to the announcement of a stock distribution by two of the firm’s original private-equity investors.

Bloomberg -- Aides to President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid discussed the process of choosing the next U.S. Federal Reserve chairman in the wake of a letter from some chamber Democrats touting one contender, according to a person familiar with the conversations.

In order to tap into fresh sources of capital, non-U.S. fund managers are looking to the U.S. to distribute investment strategies. This raises many issues: choosing the right vehicles for the job, regulatory considerations, and more.

Bloomberg -- Evercore Partners Inc., the investment bank founded by former U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman, hired Jewelle Bickford as a partner in its wealth- management unit.

Eileen Rominger, former head of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Investment Management, has decided get back to work after a year-long hiatus.

Fewer RIAs this year are in the mood to sell thanks to stable growth in the markets.

The estimated U.S. mutual fund asset flows for July 2013 were released by Morningstar today. Investors added $15.9 billion to long-term mutual funds in July, driven by inflows of $7.9 billion into international-equity funds.

As risk has dialed up in today's uncertain climate, there has been a growing trend of mutual funds embracing the flexibility and creativity of various options strategies to dampen volatility and garner better returns.

Fidelity Labs, a part of the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology, Fidelity’s unit focused on innovation, previewed the Fidelity Market Monitor for Glass. This is the first investing Glassware widely available for Google Glass.

Nuveen Investments announced the Board of Trustees of the Nuveen New York Dividend Advantage Municipal Fund (NAN), Nuveen New York Performance Plus Municipal Fund, Inc. (NNP) and Nuveen New York Dividend Advantage Municipal Fund 2 (NXK) approved a merger.

What summer doldrums? Focus Financial Partners, one of the country’s largest RIA aggregators, has made its second major deal in two weeks and fifth of the year, boosting its total assets to over $60 billion spread over 27 firms.

Findings from the second quarter 2013 John Hancock Investor Sentiment Survey—a quarterly poll of affluent investors—show a surpriisng lack of knowledge.

Alternatives juggernaut Blackstone joined the likes of other fellow private investment firms The Carlyle Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) last month as the asset management practice continues its revolutionary switch in business focus out of institutional coffers and into the retail investment space.

As risk has dialed up in today's uncertain climate, there has been a growing trend of mutual funds embracing the flexibility and creativity of various options strategies to dampen volatility and garner better returns.

Individual investors, advisors, and institutions continued to show interest in large-cap equity strategies in the first half of 2013, according to a list of the most-researched investments in Morningstar's platforms. The mid-year snapshot also finds individual investors seeking dividends, financial advisors exploring allocation funds and income investments, and institutions searching for opportunities internationally.

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.