Alternative investments

Affiliated Managers Group has reached an agreement with Russell Investments to acquire Russell subsidiary Pantheon Ventures for $775 million, with the potential for additional payments over the next five years, contingent on Pantheon’s growth.

The financial crisis has made a permanent impression on American consumers, who are likely to save 6% or more of their income over the next decade, translating to as much as $800 billion stashed away each year, according to a new study by Allianz Group.

E*Trade has expanded its advice offerings with the addition of actively managed portfolios of non-proprietary mutual funds or exchange-traded funds. They will have a minimum investment threshold of $25,000 and offer a wide range of investment styles from conservative to aggressive growth. The service, residing on PNC Managed Investments’ platform, will also be automatically rebalanced to ensure proper diversification.

Morningstar has acquired Footnoted.org, the terms of the deal undisclosed.

Fee-based financial advisers are grappling with the fallout from the crash of 2008 and see tactical asset management as the way to navigate the current market, according to a survey of 750 advisers by Jefferson National.

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index (ETI) rose in January by one percent to 93.2, the fifth consecutive month it has risen. However, it is down 0.7% from a year ago.

Reflecting their deep turmoil during the past two years, the banking and insurance industries rank as the least trusted in the U.S., with banks recording the only slide in faith the past year, according to the inaugural 2010 Edelman Financial Services U.S. Trust Barometer.

An industry group developing best practices for 403(b) retirement plans is coming closer to streamlining these plans to make them even more similar to 401(k) plans, but first they will have to get everyone to agree to speak the same language.

The actively managed exchange-traded funds sector is increasingly going mainstream, and Grail Advisors is riding right along with it. Grail is aggressively expanding its product lineup, introducing two fixed-income funds that brings to seven its stable of actively managed exchange-traded funds.

NEW YORK - Financial experts think 2010 could provide many interesting opportunities in the realm of wealth transference, particularly with the temporary, one-year expiration of the federal estate tax and reduction of the gift tax.

Great West Retirement Services has introduced a new set of guaranteed income investment options, SecureFoundation. The products protect participants’ retirement income when the market drops, gives them some of the upside when the market rises, and guarantees retirement income for life.

With consumers pessimistic about the current state of the economy and the future, U.S. consumer confidence fell 32.4% in February from a month earlier, according to the RBC Consumer Attitudes and Spending by Household Index.

It will be harder for advisers and money managers to outperform this year after a strong 2009, but there are still a few key areas of opportunity, Larry Adam, the chief investment strategist for Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management, said during a conference call.

More than half of CPA financial planners say their wealthy clients are not confident in the stock market, according to a survey by the American Institute of CPAs.

PIMCO has launched the PIMCO Short Term Municipal Bond Strategy Fund, an actively managed exchange-traded fund. The fund will invest in high-quality, short-maturity, alternative minimum tax-free municipal bonds whose income is exempt from federal and, in some cases, state tax. John Cummings, executive vice president and head of the municipal bond desk at PIMCO, will manage the fund.

Sixty-five percent of equities and 58% of options traders believe the S&P 500 Index will rise between 5% and 20% in 2010, according to a survey of 240 investors by online broker TradeKing. Many said they are more confident about the stock market now that the Obama administration has shifted its focus from healthcare reform to job creation.

The 4% decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in January could portend worse things to come for the stock market and the economy, Mohamed A. El-Erian, co-chief investment officer of PIMCO, recently wrote in a Bloomberg News column.

Fidelity is offering a suite of 25 iShares exchange-traded funds to its online and wireless retail customers commission-free, and Fidelity has also reduced its online U.S. equity trade commissions to $7.95. for all of its customers.

The Labor and Treasury Departments have issued a request for information to determine whether annuities belong in 401(k)s. Specifically, the agencies want to know the benefits and the drawbacks to receiving retirement income in installments.

The actively managed exchange-traded funds sector is increasingly going mainstream, and Grail Advisors is riding right along with it.