Thursday's Headlines: The rich like to manage their own money, but advisers should not feel threatened by the Internet
The affluent like to get their hands dirty when it comes to their investments, according to Investment News which cites a recent Dow Jones Survey of 1,287 investors with more than $500,000 in investable assets. The survey found that 41 percent use online and discount brokerages to manage their investments; 31 percent use a full-service firm, and 28 percent use independent firms.
OF those who do hire a professional, 70 percent are extremely or very satisfied with the relationship, though top areas for improvement include more information on tax strategies, estate planning and emerging markets and alternative investments.
Other news:
Loan books at BofA, Wells Fargo, Citi and JPMorgan dropped 7 percent from a year earlier, even as deposits rose 5 percent. [Fortune]
HSBC's investment bank is showing signs of strain with high turnover a year after the Swiss institution hired 1,200 bankers. [WSJ]
Japan's top three banks will book combined losses of $1.9 billion on the Tokyo Electric Power Company. [Reuters]
Cantor Fitzgerald sold $635 million of bonds backed by commercial mortgages in its first sale of the securities. [Bloomberg]
Morgan Stanley's wealth management unit grew its assets by $11.4 billion in the 1Q, despite losing 243 advisers. [Reuters]
BlackRock's 1Q earnings leaped 58% and profit jumped 34% on a rising market. [Bloomberg]
Wells Fargo's 1Q profit climbed 48 percent as costs for soured real-estate and business loans fell; wealth management rose by 8 percent. [Businessweek]
A Battle Royal for Terminated Merrill Lynch Employees (and one wife). [Forbes (blog)]