Baby boomers who are rich in real estate now can get cash out of their homes without taking on debt or making a payment, but at least one competitor questions whether the idea is a Faustian bargain.
Regulators are backing off their aggressive pursuit of B share cases. In the clearest indication yet that enforcers have changed their tune, the SEC late last month dropped a prominent B share case against former Prudential Securities Inc. broker Robert Ostrowski.
BOSTON — Just because the Enron Corp. and market-timing scandals have led to greater disclosure requirements doesn’t mean that some mutual fund companies aren’t still burying some doozies in their regulatory filings, according to Russel Kinnel, director of mutual fund research for Morningstar Inc.
In an effort to prevent top brokers from bolting, wirehouses quietly are backing down from their tough stance against allowing advisers to act as fiduciaries to employee retirement plans.
The Securities and Exchange Commission continues to forge ahead in its quest to wrap some kind of regulatory lasso around the $1.2 trillion hedge fund industry. Why it is doing so isn’t entirely clear.
WASHINGTON — Be careful what you wish for with regard to cost basis reporting, as it might cause a headache of colossal proportions.
When it comes to Putnam Investments, it is the performance — not the parent — that matters, financial advisers say.
Focus Financial Partners LLC, barely a year old, purchased majority stakes in three more independent fiduciary wealth management firms last week — increasing its roster of firms to nine and tripling assets under management to $15 billion.
WASHINGTON — As Americans feel more stressed out over the erosion of corporate benefits and the solvency of social benefits programs, such traditional economic indicators as gross domestic product growth and household income are becoming less correlated to their perception of the economy’s well-being, according to a recently released study.
Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. continues to lead the wirehouse race for net new client assets.
A congressman who raised eyebrows last month when he seemed to imply that annuities are the answer to the need for lifetime retirement income claims he was misunderstood.
A California court ruling late last month may make it easier for states to sue financial firms, according to legal experts.
The securities arbitration system should be reformed or else investors should be given the option of taking their disputes to court, according to a group that represents state securities regulators.
Real estate investment trusts that focus on office properties and those investing internationally will continue to show strong performance this year, even though REITs overall have outperformed the broad market for the past seven years, according to industry experts.
The Bush administration’s push for an increased use of alternative energy has shed new light on an emerging category of relatively untested and untapped investment opportunities.
OTTAWA — After much consultation, the Canadian Securities Administrators’ Regulation Reform Project is about to surface, though exactly when isn’t clear.
NEW YORK — Recent reports of an uptick in home invasions in many parts of the United States may increase the popularity of a policy that covers medical and other costs of the invasions.
Corporate America received a dose of common sense when The Home Depot Inc. said that its new chief executive, Frank Blake, would be paid a fraction of what his predecessor was taking home.
WASHINGTON — Proponents of allowing insurers to be federally regulated are taking heart in the inclusion of that proposal in a report recently issued by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
IRVINE, Calif. — Wachovia Securities LLC of Richmond, Va., is expected to roll out in coming weeks a significant new incentive program.
