The second quarter opened up with high hopes and generally positive expectations for the remainder of the year.
Annuity sales skyrocketed during the second quarter at Prudential Financial Inc., thanks to a push to expand distribution relationships in the bank and wirehouse channels.
The recession of 2008-2009 now looks even deeper with a 4.1% drop in output from peak to trough, compared to an originally estimated 3.8% decline.
In some ways, this week will mark the end of the first chapter of the economic recovery.
To paraphrase Procol Harum, for many observers, the economic recovery, which had looked a bit ghostly, just turned a whiter shade of pale.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the company run by billionaire Warren Buffett, may have to set aside $8 billion in collateral for derivatives under proposed changes to U.S. financial regulations, a Barclays Capital analyst said.
MetLife stays at the top, with Prudential and TIAA-CREF right behind
The oracle's yearly note to Berkshire-Hathaway shareholders was once a big event in investor circles. Now, it's lost its luster. Blame familiarity.
Defined-contribution plans are adding self-directed brokerage accounts as a way of giving participants more choices even as some plans reduce the number of core investment options.
The second quarter opened up with high hopes and generally positive expectations for the remainder of the year. As noted last quarter, there was a wide variety of opinions on the strength of the recovery but a strong majority believed a recovery was in fact under way.
By some measures, deflation in United States is no longer a question of if, but for how long and how deep.
The second quarter opened up with high hopes and generally positive expectations for the remainder of the year.
Stifel Financial Corp., which has increased its brokerage force by 23% in the past year, won't be as buffeted as many analysts expect if regulators impose a fiduciary standard on brokers, the company's chief executive said last week.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. is proposing a rule that would let the regulator demand more frequent financial reporting from its member firms — and as a first step, it wants more details on revenue and expenses.
While the graying of the advisory industry creates the risk of having too few reps to meet the demand of aging boomers, it's a big opportunity for younger advisers eager to build their businesses.
In a commentary about a month ago, I described how the economic world seemed to be drifting into two opposing camps: the Washington-based "Stimulators," who insist that more government debt is the best means to end the financial crisis, and the Berlin- and London-based "Austerians," who argue that debt is the crisis itself.
Mutual fund companies may be largely unaffected by the financial services reform legislation, but they are girding for other types of regulation.
The oldest baby boomers, many of whom are expecting to retire soon, will likely not have enough money to carry them through their twilight years.
