Morgan Stanley’s board of directors has approved the spin-off of Discover Financial Services.
An association has been formed to educate and advocate about issues relevant to 401(k) independent record keepers.
Jesper Koll, an economist for Merrill Lynch based in Japan, has resigned from his post, published reports said.
Scot Warren was appointed managing director for equity indexes at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, according to a statement from the exchange.
Bear Stearns has joined with a group of Saudi Arabian executives to provide investment products that comply with Islamic law.
Bracing for change, registered representatives at A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. last week met the news that they are being acquired by Wachovia Corp. with a range of opinions.
NEW YORK — The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. has adopted a revised version of its standards of professional conduct, placing a greater emphasis on the importance of fiduciary responsibility.
A retirement savings plan that covers more than 3.7 million federal workers may take a page from an increasing number of corporate 401(k) plan sponsors and institute automatic enrollment.
WASHINGTON — The Investment Company Institute last week fought back against the life insurance industry’s attempt to get stable-value funds included as 401(k) default investment options.
Faced with intense competition for financial advisers and growing transition costs, an increasing number of independent-contractor broker-dealers over the past year have boosted the amount of money they give to representatives and advisers to switch firms.
Principles-based rules won’t be a panacea for financial services and, in fact, could create more regulatory risk, some industry observers say. The concept of flexible rules is being pushed hard by business interests and regulators as the way to improve and modernize regulation.
NEW YORK — The Financial Services Institute Inc. is gearing up for a fracas with regulators over the highly contentious issue of 12(b)-1 fees, an embedded annual charge in almost all mutual funds.
CHICAGO — Life cycle fever seems to be spreading from 401(k) plans to variable annuities. At ING Variable Annuities, for instance, assets in LifeStyle portfolios — which were introduced as ING-managed subaccounts in mid-2004 — reached $8 billion at the end of April, up from more than $4 billion at the end of 2005.
The largest shareholder of Citigroup has expressed confidence in chief executive Charles Prince and does not want to see a breakup of the company.
Fidelity Investments will move its Japanese equity-trading desk to Hong Kong from Tokyo, published reports said.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer has created a commission to help New York City hold onto and expand its status as a world financial capital.
Global Alpha, Goldman Sachs’ flagship hedge fund, fell 3.4% during the first four months of this year.
