Banking & Finance

BrightScope, a provider of independent financial information and investment research, unveiled its 2012 list of the top 25 Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) firms in the Milwaukee area.

Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC (MMA), a subsidiary of insurance broker White Plains, N.Y.-based Marsh Inc., has announced the acquisition of Wisconsin-based Security Insurance Services Inc., which has offices in New Berlin and Appleton.

At the midway pole, the economy continues to recover.

Robert Buerger has been named senior vice president and chief lending officer at ISB Community Bank in Ixonia.

Dennis Lynch has been appointed to the Fiserv Inc. board of directors. Brookfield-based Fiserv provides financial services technology solutions to a global market.

The A.O. Smith Corporation has increased its quarterly cash dividend by 25 percent, to $.20 per share. The company's Common Stock and Class A Common Stock are affected.

Wisconsin banks who received capital through the Small Business Lending Fund have increased small business lending by $45.3 million since 2010, according to a report from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Karen Ellenbecker, president of Ellenbecker Investment Group Inc. in Pewaukee and host of the “Money Sense” radio show on AM 1130-WISN, has been guiding small business owners with their finances for 27 years. The current economic environment presents challenges, she says, but the key to creating a fulfilling retirement continues to be proper planning ahead of time – for both business and personal finances.

Reflecting the rebounding strength of the state's manufacturing sector, the majority of the top-performing stocks of publicly traded companies...

The companies that experts say will be ripest for M&A activity in the second half of the year are...