The U.S. equity market is likely to see a double-digit gain this year, while the economy shrinks by 2%, said .Robert C. Doll, vice chairman and chief equity investment officer of New York-based BlackRock Inc.
Cigna anticipates that most of the layoffs will be completed by the middle of this year and that all of the affected employees will be eligible for severance benefits and outplacement support.
Clients of Raymond James Financial Inc. who are stuck holding $1 billion of auction rate securities will have to hang onto the paper for months to come, even though several large firms have announced buybacks.
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on Friday proposed a partial delay in the launch of its new transparency system for short-term securities after many in the industry said they need more time to implement the system.
The nomination of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. chief Mary Schapiro to head the Securities and Exchange Commission has intensified worries about whether Finra will take over the regulation of financial advisers.
Mr. Dinallo will focus on securities lending this year, asking each life insurance company about its approach toward these transactions and preparing to evaluate the carriers' programs.
"There is tons of money sitting on the sidelines and companies have tons of money sitting on their books."
The stock market hasn't hit bottom yet, but by the end of 2009 it will have turned positive.
"Most of the bad economic news that can possibly happen has already happened."
In 2009, look for an increase in individual lawsuits, rather than class actions, filed by institutional investors such as pension funds and insurance companies in litigation stemming from the subprime debacle.
"I think it will be a little bit bumpy for the economy and the markets for the first few months of the year, but then we will gain some traction," Mr. Glovsky said. He thinks the second half of 2009 will be strong.
Despite the market turmoil, which caused a decrease in assets under management in 2008, financial advisers and the independent broker-dealers who serve them will see business boom in 2009.
"It will be a difficult year. We expect commercial-property investment volume to increase 15% from the depressed levels of 2008 as more distressed assets come to market," Mr. Bach said.
Issues that affect the retail segment of the financial services industry may not win immediate attention from Congress and President-elect Barack Obama’s administration.
The fixed-income market — particularly the distressed corporate-bond area — offers the strongest opportunities in the year ahead, he said.
In the third or fourth quarter, he thinks think money will come back to the industry with a vengeance. Pension funds are going to realize that their asset allocations are out of whack, Mr. Lo said.
Market predictions have little value for Mr. Lamb, but he is willing to hazard a guess that later this year, "we may see a glimmer of hope that the world is not going to zero." At that point, a vigorous rally could ignite, he said.
The economy will continue to be under pressure from rising unemployment and declining industrial output through the first half of 2009. Unemployment will reach 8.5% to 9% by yearend.
Ms. Lassus, whose organization represents fee-only advisors, predicted that the economy will begin to rebound between the latter half of the summer of 2009 and into 2010.
Despite the stress experienced by the financial services industry, now is not necessarily the time to abandon capital-intensive technology investments, Mr. Kumar said.
