Top 5 Financial Companies To Buy For 2014

LPL Financial (LPLA) said early Wednesday that its RIA platform now has $50 billion in assets under custody, nearly doubling its asset base of a year ago.

"The $50 billion milestone caps five years of remarkable growth for our RIA custody business," said Derek Bruton (left), managing director for LPL Financial, in a press release.

LPL’s RIA platform was used by 152 firms with $27.1 billion in assets as of March 2012. In late May 2013, 208 firms with $50 billion in assets were doing business on the platform.

"We made a calculated decision to focus on this area back in 2008, based on the anticipated success of the then-new hybrid RIA model, which enables both fee- and commission-based revenue opportunities for advisors who operate under their own RIA firm,” Bruton said.

“Our recruitment efforts have been wildly successful, as the number of RIA firms on our platform, and their ability to attract assets, has exploded. We have become the destination of choice for the most successful and sophisticated RIA firms in the industry."

Top 5 Financial Companies To Buy For 2014: National Financial Partners Corporation (NFP)

National Financial Partners Corp., together with its subsidiaries, provides advisory and brokerage services to corporate and high net worth individual clients in the United States and Canada. It operates in three segments: Corporate Client Group, Individual Client Group, and Advisor Services Group. The Corporate Client Group segment operates as corporate benefits advisor in the middle market, offering independent solutions for health and welfare, retirement planning, executive benefits, and property and casualty insurance; and offers property and casualty insurance brokerage and consulting services. It serves corporate clients by providing advisory and brokerage services related to the planning and administration of benefit plans that take into account the overall business profile and needs of the corporate client. The Individual Client Group segment delivers independent life insurance, annuities, long term care, and wealth transfer solutions; and wholesale life brokerage, retail life, and investment advisory services. It serves wealth accumulation, preservation, and transfer needs, including estate planning, business succession, charitable giving, and financial advisory services. The Advisor Services Group segment provides broker-dealer and asset management products and services to independent financial advisors. In addition, the company provides IndeSuite, a wealth management platform for the independent registered investment advisor market. National Financial Partners Corp. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in New York City, New York.

Top 5 Financial Companies To Buy For 2014: Metro Bancorp Inc(METR)

Metro Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Metro Bank, which provides a range of retail and commercial banking services to consumers and small and mid-sized companies in Pennsylvania. Its deposit products include personal and business checking accounts, regular savings accounts, money market accounts, interest checking accounts, fixed rate certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, and club accounts. The company?s loan products portfolio comprises commercial and industrial, owner occupied real estate, commercial construction and land development, and commercial real estate loans; consumer loans, including home equity, overdraft checking protection, and consumer credit cards, as well as installment loans for home improvement, and the purchase of consumer goods and automobiles; and construction loans and permanent mortgages for homes. It also offers debit card services, online banking services, safe deposit facilities, and automated teller fa cilities. As of July 14, 2011, Metro Bancorp operated 33 stores in the counties of Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, and York. The company was formerly known as Pennsylvania Commerce Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to Metro Bancorp, Inc. in June 2009. Metro Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Hot Insurance Stocks To Own For 2014: TICC Capital Corp.(TICC)

TICC Capital Corp., a business development company, operates as a closed-end, non-diversified management investment company. The firm invests in both public and private companies. It invests in secured and unsecured senior debt, subordinated debt, junior subordinated debt, preferred stock, and common stock. The firm primarily invests in debt and/or equity securities of technology-related companies that operate in the computer software, Internet, information technology infrastructure and services, media, telecommunications and telecommunications equipment, semiconductors, hardware, technology-enabled services, semiconductor capital equipment, medical device technology, diversified technology, and networking systems sectors. It concentrates its investments in companies having annual revenues of less than $200 million and a market capitalization or enterprise value of less than $300 million. The firm invests between $5 million and $30 million per transaction. It seeks to exit its investments within 7 years. It serves as the investment adviser to TICC. The company was formerly known as Technology Investment Capital Corp. and changed its name to TICC Capital Corp. in December 2007. TICC Capital Corp. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, closed-end asset manager TICC Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: TICC  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

Top 5 Financial Companies To Buy For 2014: Blackrock MuniEnhanced Fund Inc. (MEN)

BlackRock MuniEnhanced Fund, Inc. is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by BlackRock, Inc. It is co-managed by BlackRock Advisors, LLC and BlackRock Investment Management LLC. The fund invests in fixed income markets. It invests primarily in long-term, investment grade municipal obligations. BlackRock MuniEnhanced Fund, Inc. was formed in 1988 and is domiciled in United States.

Top 5 Financial Companies To Buy For 2014: White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd.(WTM)

White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, engages in the property and casualty insurance, and reinsurance businesses. The company?s OneBeacon segment offers professional liability products, marine insurance, collector cars and boats insurance, property and inland marine insurance, tuition reimbursement, and excess property and accident and health products, as well as property and casualty insurance coverages tailored to industry groups, such as technology, financial services, entertainment, sports and leisure industries, and government entities. Its White Mountains Re segment provides reinsurance coverage for property, accident and health, aviation and space, trade credit, marine, casualty, agriculture, and other exposures. White Mountains? Esurance segment writes personal auto insurance to customers online and through select online agents, as well as sells insurance online. The company offers its products and services primarily in the United State s, Europe, Canada, the Caribbean, Bermuda, Latin America, and Asia. White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.