Global investing

MetLife's Broker-Dealer Group has introduced MetLife Fund Management Services, an investment advisory solution targeted at emerging investors.

A former UBS banker who cooperated with the U.S. investigation of the Swiss bank was sentenced to over three years in jail for helping a billionaire real estate developer evade $7.2 million in taxes.

The Securities and Exchange Commission needs to undertake a “comprehensive, independent, zero-based regulatory review” of a broad range of market structure issues before “piecemeal changes to the current market structure” exacerbate potential execution unfairness and make matters worse, says U.S. Sen. Edward E. Kaufman (D-Del.).

PMC, the investment management arm of Envestnet, announced the launch of a new tax overlay service Thursday that will allow advisers to minimize tax liabilities on their clients’ portfolios.

Investor confidence among affluent investors increased in July, according to monthly data released by Spectrem Group.

The recent drop in financial markets has rekindled the demand for safer, conservative financial products like stable-value funds.

Sometimes we seek out opportunities for change. Other times change is thrust upon us. Market conditions in the past 24 months have produced seismic shifts in the mutual fund industry, and several business drivers have emerged that will shape our industry's future. As asset managers, distributors, suppliers and others evaluate their next steps, these demands will drive strategies and shape new solutions.

The U.S. should adopt a Systemic Risk Council made up of top financial regulators, according to Investment Company Institute President and CEO Paul Schott Stevens, during testimony July 23 before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee.

NEW YORK -- An investors' advocacy group is challenging the Obama Administration and Congress to do more for the needs of average investors.

New enhancements to Envestnet’s unified managed account (UMA), such as product expansion, systematic income withdrawals and adviser-created asset allocations, will allow advisers to customize client accounts ranging from $150,000 to multi-millions on a single platform.

Tocqueville Asset Management will acquire Delafield Asset Management, a provider of mutual funds, separately managed accounts and limited partnerships. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Lori Richards is stepping down as head of the office of compliance inspections and examinations at the Securities and Exchange Commission, a role she held since its creation in 1995. She joined the SEC in 1985. Upon her departure on Aug. 7, Associate Director and Chief Counsel John Walsh will take her place.

It could take as long as five years for asset managers around the world to recoup the $10 trillion they lost in 2008, according to a report by Cerulli, which calls the global meltdown “of near-biblical proportions.”

Registered investment advisors reported a rise in new clients, according to a survey released Monday by TD Ameritrade Institutional, a unit of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.

Financial advisers were able to save their millionaire clients big money last year, helping to fortify the need and demand for good advice among the wealthy, Fidelity Investments found.

More than 25% of high-net-worth individuals either withdrew assets or closed their accounts with their wealth managers in 2008, according to the World Wealth Report, a survey of the 15 largest firms issued by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and Capgemini. Instead, 30% of wealthy investors said they are likely to move their money to local and regional banks.The 15 asset managers surveyed lost an average of nearly 25% of their assets in 2008 after a 17% growth in 2007.“The good news is that it’s still a profitable business—just less profitable than before,” commented Bertrand Lavayssierre, managing director of global financial services at Capgemini.Wealthy clients moved 50% of their assets into cash or cash-equivalent assets, up from 44% in 2007 and 35% in 2006.

The number of millionaires in the world plunged 14.9% last year as the markets faced extreme losses and volatility, according to the Merrill Lynch/Capgemini 2009 World Wealth Report. This means there are fewer millionaires in the world today than in 2005. The number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (those worth net assets of at least $30 million, not including their primary residence) also dropped 24.6%.

As the asset management industry will inevitably face more regulations, costs will increase and competition will intensify, giving the largest companies an advantage that will increase their market share. Those were some of the views of 225 asset managers from 30 countries that Create Research surveyed. The study was commissioned by Citi’s global transaction services group and Principal Global Investors.

Financial planners’ high-net-worth clients are asking for guidance on investing and spending, as they reassess their holdings following the devastation of 2008, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants found in a survey.

Affluent investors' confidence increased in May for the third consecutive month, according to a survey by Spectrem Group.