Two legal decisions this month related to equity index annuities make clear that plaintiffs must attack specific annuity provisions or standardized marketing materials in order to show the “commonality” needed for class action certification.
After a long, hard slog, H&R Block Financial Advisors Inc. has found its way to profitability, and it expects to stay there, but its parent company’s long-standing goal of turning millions of tax clients into brokerage clients remains elusive.
CHICAGO — Financial advisers are crafting new strategies to convince clients to complete their wills and estate plans.
NEW YORK — The rich are different, and so are their insurance needs, but many wealthy people may be leaving themselves unprotected, according to personal-lines-property-casualty-insurance specialists.
The Blackstone Group has found a way to dodge billions in taxes, The New York Times reported.
Barclays has added Aaron Tan as managing director and head of Hong Kong coverage, Finance Asia reported.
Conseco Inc. will consolidate operations and sell properties as part of a plan to pare down expenses.
The Secretary of the Treasury will hold a conference to examine the tax system's effect on U.S. businesses and economic growth.
New York Life Insurance Co. has promoted Gary Scofield to senior vice president and chief actuary.
In an unexpected move, Lincoln Financial Group announced that its chairman and CEO will retire on Sept. 1.
Morgan Stanley has bought Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co.'s Seoul headquarters for $1.04 billion, published reports said.
The cost of fighting money laundering has risen 58% since 2004, according to a survey by KPMG.
Ben Edwards III, a former chief executive of A.G. Edwards Inc., is not happy about his family firm’s merger with Wachovia Corp.
NEW YORK — Advisers may want to think twice before loading a new retiree’s portfolio with equity investments, according to a retirement software developer.
NEW YORK — Dual broker-adviser registration may become more common as brokerage firms shift from fee-based brokerage accounts, but the adviser’s new role could lead to more litigation, according to lawyers.
WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission is setting up an advisory committee on financial reporting to scrutinize the high number of financial restatements by public companies, according to Robert Pozen, who will head the committee.
WASHINGTON — The Department of Labor and Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., are considering separate efforts to crack down on pension consultant conflicts of interests following a report by the Government Accountability Office that said undisclosed conflicts could be lowering pension fund investment returns.
Pressed by very wealthy clients who feel they are overpaying, and under cost pressures of their own, multifamily offices increasingly are searching for alternatives to asset-based fees, according to industry executives and observers.
Advisers are reacting to the impending sale of Rydex Investments to the Security Benefit Group of Companies with a mixture of enthusiasm, caution and disapproval.
As the number of regional brokerage firms dwindles, executives at those that remain insist they’re better off staying independent.
