Alternative investments

In their attempts to mend the “rattled” investor trust in the alternative space, funds-of-funds managers are planning to utilize transparency and examine their fee structures moving forward, a new study claims.

BALTIMORE—The uncertainty and confusion around the fiduciary standard has jolted the financial services industry leading hundreds to pack the rooms at FINRA’s annual conference in Baltimore.

High-net-worth individuals in developed markets are far more downbeat about global economic prospects than those in emerging markets, according to Barclays Wealth Insights Volume 11: The Changing Wealth of Nations.

According to a survey conducted in the first quarter by the Insured Retirement Institute released Monday the overall outlook for the annuity industry is positive. While some challenges remain, respondents indicated the growth industry’s opportunities are strong, with growth for variable annuities ranking 4.1 on a five-point scale, and fixed ranking 3.2 on the same scale.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has increased the number of securities in its coverage of corporate actions announced through its Global Corporate Action Validation Service (GCA VS).

After the so-called flash crash on May 6, and leading up to the $1 trillion debt bailout extended to Greece, the pros at Moss Adams knew how to react. They largely did nothing. There was no dumping of equities across the board. They did not pull up stakes and hunker down in cash positions.

WASHINGTON — The recovery zone bond program would double in size to $50 billion and Build America Bonds could be used to do current refundings of existing BABs under a new tax and jobs bill released late Thursday evening by leaders of the House and Senate tax-writing committees.

U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, an affiliate of the Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM) unit of Bank of America [BAC], announced that Grant Boyd had been named market executive in Greater Atlanta. Boyd previously worked at The Private Bank of Wells Fargo, where he was a senior vice president and private banking manager for the Southeast region. In his new role he will oversee the direction and growth of U.S. Trust’s relationships with high- and ultra-high-net worth individuals and families.

The SEC, FINRA and national securities exchanges are proposing individual circuit-breakers for every stock available in the U.S. They would set in if a security price moves 10% or more in a five-minute period.

"I've been everywhere and seen everything and done everything...sophisticated, God, I'm sophisticated." -- Daisy Buchanan, The Great Gatsby

For some time now, pension funds and other institutional investors have been looking for new ways to hedge against inflation and generate solid, reliable income. By hiring seasoned industry professional Joyce T. Shapiro, Franklin Templeton Real Estate Advisors (FTREA) believes it has found a way to deliver on both demands.

If nothing else, the last two years have taught affluent investors and financial professionals that change is often unexpected, swift and brutal. But despite taking severe double-digit losses on their portfolios, affluent investors surveyed recently by HSBC still largely have the same portfolio allocations they did at the onset of the financial crisis in 2008.

State Street Global Advisors and Nuveen Investments launched an exchange-traded fund tracking Build America Bonds Thursday, as investment vehicles devoted to taxable municipal debt continue to proliferate.

It wasn’t a hedge fund, a proprietary trading desk at an investment bank or a rogue trader that may have been the key trigger behind the “flash crash,” one-thousand-point drop in the Dow.

GE Funding Capital Market Services Inc., a subsidiary of General Electric Capital Corp., does not agree with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s plans to file charges against it in connection with an industry-wide investigation of guaranteed investment contracts and derivatives, but is discussing the matter, including a “potential resolution,” with SEC staff.

Declining annuity premiums mean insurers may have to rethink their annuities products in order to survive, according to a report by Scott Hawkins, vice president and insurance analyst at Conning Research & Consulting in Hartford, Conn.

Hedge funds’ take on the wide array of new regulations being proposed for collateralized debt obligations, credit default swaps and derivatives, in addition to taxes on risk retention, is simple: Bring it on.

Last year saw the launch of a record 12 new non-traded real-estate investment trusts, according to analysis by Blue Vault Partners, an Atlanta research firm that specializes in this sector.

Recent revelations such as those involving Goldman Sachs demonstrate that when it comes to investing, many commercial banks, pension funds, endowments and other institutions are not sophisticated.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) suit against Goldman Sachs centers on the allegation that the Wall Street firm failed to disclose to investors the role an opportunistic hedge fund, Paulson & Co., played in choosing the assets underlying a CDO, before betting against it.