Brokerage

James Gorman once set a 20% margin target for Morgan Stanley's wealth management operation — then lowered it. Given the stellar 1Q performance of the unit, maybe he should go back to the original goal.

Fees for securities licensing exams will increase as of June 1, the North American Securities Administrators Association Inc. announced today. Broker and investment adviser candidates who take the Series 63 exam will be charged $115, up from $96 currently. The Series 65 fee will be $155, up from

PortfolioGoldman Sachs: Forget gold, nat gas is the new safe haven. ( The Tell )That Reinhardt-Rogoff research that's been used to justify an avalanche of austerity around the world? There may have been a small error ( Next New Deal )Some good values in the oil & gas patch based on quantitative

Appeals court in California says brokerage firms can force employees to hold accounts in-house, that flexibility in in trading policies rules.

PortfolioECB caves in on Cyprus bail out, will provide liquidity rather than rob its own citizens to protect hedge fund bondholders. The market likes it. ( Business Insider )Should you buy Claymore's new spin-off ETF? ( ETFdb )The BizMore on Raymond James's new RIA-like platform. ( RIABiz )Senate

At Pimco, we have long believed that the global economic recovery from the financial crisis of 2008 was to be subpar despite the historic amount of stimulus applied in 2009. The “new normal” recovery, as we described it then (see Pimco Secular Outlook, “A New Normal,” May 2009), was fraught with

The brokerage industry's regulator is collecting information from 14 large firms regarding potential conflicts of interest related to compensation and product sales in an effort to flag problems and highlight best practices. “We're looking both to identify anything that we think is a serious

Two large industry groups have slammed a Finra proposal that would require greater disclosure of incentive bonuses.

Completes integration of Morgan Keegan financial advisers and their clients onto the company's technology platform

Raymond James Financial Inc. has completed the integration of Morgan Keegan advisers and their clients to the company's technology platform ten months after closing on the acquisition of the brokerage. It simultaneously announced the retirement of the Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc. brand a year ahead of

Improved capital levels at Bank of America Corp., the second-largest U.S. lender, have led Meredith Whitney and other analysts to tout the stock. Lansdowne Partners Ltd., the largest European hedge fund that invests in equities, purchased 26.5 million shares in the fourth quarter, spending more