The largest shareholder gathering in the United States will reach a global audience this year as Berkshire Hathaway plans to webcast its annual meeting for the first time. On April 30, anyone interested can tune into Yahoo Finance to watch CEO Warren Buffett and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger answer five hours' worth of questions. Andy Serwer, Yahoo Finance’s editor in chief, said there is a lot of demand from places like China to see the event, held every year in Omaha, Neb., and the webcast could help Berkshire Hathaway market to sellers of businesses outside of the U.S. The event drew 40,000 attendees last year and is one of Omaha’s biggest tourist draws outside of college baseball's College World Series.
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management introduced a new screening and scoring process for fixed income managers, one that favors managers who thrive in adverse market conditions. The firm’s Adverse Active Alpha process also looks for managers who are differentiated from their benchmarks—the active component. “We believe that managers that performed well when conditions were most difficult and were able to do so with a degree of consistency may be more likely to possess investment skill, as opposed to managers that performed well primarily when conditions were in active managers’ favor,” said Matthew Rizzo, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management strategist, in a statement. The firm already offers the manager selection process for equities.
Bank Wealth Management Going Strong
Revenues from wealth management businesses at banks across the United States in 2015 are on track to match the $143.2 billion in revenue generated in 2014, according to the latest Sorrento Pacific - Michael White Bank Wealth Management Report. Based on data through the third quarter of 2015, wealth management noninterest fee income will close out the year as the second-best on record, flat or down slightly from 2014, the report's author Michael White told Bank Investment Consultant. The report found that of 358 wealth management programs of bank holding companies with more than $1 billion in assets, 319 were on track to earn a minimum of $250,000. New York-based Bank Leumi posted the biggest jump in revenue, generating $12.4 million in the first nine months of 2015, up more than eight-fold year over year. J.P. Morgan Chase produced the most income among banks with more than $10 billion in assets; Stifel led the charge in the $1 billion-to-$10 billion category; and Haverford Trust was the leader among banks with less than $1 billion, the report said.
United Capital Beefs Up Leadership Team
United Capital recently bolstered its executive team, bringing on a new chief financial officer and general counsel, a new position within the Newport Beach, Calif.-based company. Jon Frojen, a former Cetera Financial executive, will take over as CFO after United Capital promoted Gary Roth to serve as general manager and executive vice president. The firm also hired Kris Cheh Beck from real estate investment firm CityView to serve as general counsel. United Capital now has over $15 billion under management and more than 80 offices nationwide.