Alternative investments

Despite increasing optimism about the economy, affluent investors remain concerned about retirement savings and the rising costs of healthcare.

Charles Schwab has agreed to settle a federal class-action lawsuit related to its YieldPlus Fund for $200 million, far less than the $800 million plaintiffs had sought.

WASHINGTON — Jafor Iqbal wonders if advisers are from Mars and retirees are from Venus.

WASHINGTON — The political pressure to enact financial reform intensified Friday as the government accused Goldman Sachs Group of defrauding investors and the Senate concluded two days of hearings highlighting the allegedly lax supervision that preceded the largest bank failure in the country's history.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday proposed tracking large blocks of trades by mutual funds, hedge funds, private equity firms and other large institutional investors. The SEC defines a large trader as those that trade $20 million or more in securities in a day, or 20 million shares or $200 million during any calendar month.

As sentiment among wealth managers shifts, more capital has become available and companies right-size, banks, trust companies, wealth managers, and bank brokerages that are in a strong position to expand into a new market and acquire new units, will do so. But it is also the moment when companies without the capital—and stability—will get left behind.

Boosted by its investment banking and wealth management units, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reported stronger than expected first-quarter results. The New York-based company posted first-quarter earnings today of $3.33 billion, or 74 cents a share, a 55% increase from the year-ago period. JPMorgan Chase’s overall revenue rose 5% to $28.17 billion.

Despite the potential heavy burden that long-term care costs could place on many Americans during retirement, very few have actually planned for it, according to a survey by Genworth Financial.

At MetLife’s sixth annual benefits symposium in Washington this week, Treasury and Department of Labor officials discussed the difficulties of including annuities in 401(k)s. The two agencies have asked the public for comments through May 3 on including lifetime income solutions in employer plans.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed significant revisions to Regulation AB and other rules regarding the offering process, disclosure and reporting for ABS. The 5-0 vote Friday morning counts the SEC as an added player in the huge push coming from various regulators for more “skin-in-the-game” by ABS issuers.

NEW YORK -- Asset managers looking for creative new ways to profit during the global recovery have been launching a wave of exchange-traded products that aim to help portfolio managers and sophisticated investors increase their exposure to alternative investments and small-capital stocks.

They've been derided by Warren Buffett and feared by regulators, but some advisers are convincing clients that derivatives are helpful.

After taking massive losses in 2008, many on Wall Street expected investors in target-date funds to invest their retirement savings elsewhere.

Health savings accounts (HSAs) are unlikely to cover healthcare costs in retirement unless contribution limits on the plans are raised and interest rates rise, the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) said in a new report.

Victory Capital Management, the asset management arm of KeyCorp's KeyBank, says it is positioned to quickly expand the assets it manages in collective investment trusts, or CITs, for defined contribution plans, but the effort will not lack challenges.

Along with turnkey asset management programs, which allow advisers to outsource functions such as manager research, portfolio construction and performance reporting in order to gain operational and cost efficiencies, unified managed accounts are gaining popularity.

Charles Schwab filed arguments in federal court in San Francisco to try to preclude the Securities and Exchange Commission from suing it over its YieldPlus fund. Once one of the biggest short-term bond funds in the world, with $13.5 billion at its peak in 2007, YieldPlus lost 35%, before dividends, in 2008 due to high exposure to mortgage-backed securities, which comprised nearly 50% of its portfolio. Today, a mere shell of its former self, it stands at $184 million.

WASHINGTON — President Obama's successful fight to pass healthcare reform has given a bill to revamp the financial system a dramatic boost, lawmakers from both parties said Wednesday.

Charles Schwab filed arguments in federal court in San Francisco on March 19 to try to preclude the Securities and Exchange Commission from suing it over its YieldPlus fund, which had nearly 50% of its assets in mortgage-backed securities, Bloomberg reports.

In recent years, managers of target-date funds have made the argument that target-date funds need to take on added equity exposure and risk to see investors through retirements that could span 30 years or longer.