Finra Freezes Executive Pay as Revenue Declines July 5, 2017 | by Mason Braswell | AdvisorHub Seven top executives at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority earned at least $1 million in 2016 but a 6% decline in revenue has led the industry-financed organization to freeze salaries and promotions in 2017, according to the group’s annual report. “We expect…

Trump Administration Rebuffs Challenge to Fiduciary Rule in Appeals Court U.S. asks Fifth Circuit largely to uphold the rule as regulators move to revise it, or further delay implementation July 4, 2017 | by Mike Scarcella | ThinkAdvisor   The U.S. Labor Department late Monday urged a federal appeals court to largely uphold Obama-era regulations that confronted…

Blackstone agrees to buy Singapore-listed REIT for $650 mln June 28, 2017 | Reuters   SINGAPORE, June 28 (Reuters) - U.S. private equity group Blackstone Group LLP agreed to buy Singapore-listed and Japan-focused Croesus Retail Trust (CRT) for S$900.6 million ($650 million), part of an trend of buyouts of real estate investment trusts (REITs). Affiliates…

DOL Asks You if it Should Delay Fiduciary Rule Again June 30, 2017 | By Alex Padalka | Financial Advisor IQ The Department of Labor has issued a request for information on the fiduciary rule, comments from which could lead to an eventual delay of its scheduled implementation date. The first set of questions in the RFI, for which the comment period…

Total Income+ Real Estate Fund Announces 2Q Distribution at a 5.25% Annualized Distribution Rate Jun 29, 2017, 18:00 ET | Bluerock's Total Income+ Real Estate Fund  NEW YORK, June 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bluerock's Total Income+ Real Estate Fund ("Fund" or "TI+," tickers: TIPRX, TIPPX, TIPWX, TIPLX) has paid a second quarter distribution of $0.3878per share, or 1.31% for the…

Griffin Capital Company Celebrates Three Year Anniversary for Griffin Institutional Access™ Real Estate Fund June 30, 2017 12:22 ET | Source: Griffin Capital Real Estate-Focused Interval Fund Achieves $1.7 Billion in AUM EL SEGUNDO, Calif., June 30, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Griffin Capital Company, LLC (“Griffin Capital”) announced today that its Griffin Institutional Access Real Estate Fund (NASDAQ:GIREX) (NASDAQ:GCREX)…

Renter Demand At Near-Record Levels JUNE 30, 2017 | BY PAUL BUBNY | Globe St Even with many new apartment properties coming on line, strong demand from renters is shoring up pricing power, says Greg Willett at RealPage. Apartment rent growth may have slowed compared to its pace earlier in the cycle, but renter demand…

Ex-CFO Brian Block found… Guilty June 30, 2017 | James Sprow | Blue Vault A New York federal jury on Friday found the former CFO of American Realty Capital Properties Inc. guilty of securities fraud and related crimes for fabricating numbers in filings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to artificially boost a key…

Financial Advisor to Chair FSI Board of Directors June 29, 2017 | The DI Wire The Financial Services Institute, a trade organization that represents independent financial advisors and financial services firms, has elected new directors for its 2018 board of directors. The new directors include Ed Forst, president and CEO of Lincoln Investment Planning; Chris…