Alternative investments

After a series of high-profile losses in its money market fund sector, the Association of British Insurers has created the Deposit and Treasury sector, which will provide tighter controls on permitted investments.

Confidence among affluent investors grew in the second quarter, according to the TNS Investor Confidence Index.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro has named James L. Kroeker as the chief accountant in the SEC's Office of Chief Accountant.

Northern Trust Global Investments has been named the Investment Management Firm of the Year at ACQ Finance Magazine's third-annual awards ceremony.

JPMorgan Asset Management has named former Fortis Investment manager Pierre-Yves Bareau to lead its emerging markets debt unit, following last week's departure of two long-time emerging market bond managers at JPMorgan.

Hedge funds may have to change tactics, notably by cutting their leverage, and adapt to regulations that likely will restrict their investment strategies, according to a recent report about the $2 trillion alternative asset management industry published by Standard & Poor’s.

Broadridge Financial Solutions and DeltaConcept, a global provider of portfolio management solutions, have aligned to launch a Switzerland-based platform that provides front-to-back integrated solutions for private banks and asset managers.

Advanced Group Investments, a provider of global investment strategies in real estate, commodities, stocks and bonds, has launched a new social networking site for investors called AGI Club.

John Hancock Funds has launched the Technical Opportunities Fund, a diversified stock fund that is structured to allow the subadviser, Wellington Management, to invest up to 100% of the portfolio in cash if necessary. The fund is intended to provide a specialty strategy for retail portfolios.

Global investment management firm PIMCO has launched the PIMCO 1-5 Year U.S. TIPS Index Fund, a combination of three Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities exchanged-traded funds designed to focus on the short maturity segment of the TIPS market.

MetLife's Broker-Dealer Group has introduced MetLife Fund Management Services, an investment advisory solution targeted at emerging investors.

UMB Financial Corp. is installing Advantage Fee software from Fiserv Inc. to streamline billing activities in its investment management units, Fiserv said.

A former UBS banker who cooperated with the U.S. investigation of the Swiss bank was sentenced to over three years in jail for helping a billionaire real estate developer evade $7.2 million in taxes.

The Securities and Exchange Commission needs to undertake a “comprehensive, independent, zero-based regulatory review” of a broad range of market structure issues before “piecemeal changes to the current market structure” exacerbate potential execution unfairness and make matters worse, says U.S. Sen. Edward E. Kaufman (D-Del.).

Fidelity Investment's timely staff cuts and careful positioning of its financial service units is paying off this year and contributing to market share gains, according to the fund giant.

Sales and national accounts professionals saw average compensation losses ranging from 10% to 30% in 2008, but with smart management, top producers will be well-positioned for a recovery in 2010, according to a new study by kasina.

The law offices of Stanley, Mandel & Iola and Wolf, Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz are beating the bushes to see if they can wrangle enough retail investors who lose money in leveraged and inverse ETFs to file a class-action lawsuit.

With news that the economy might be on the mend and that roughly two-thirds of employers are considering reinstating 401(k) matches in the next 18 months, it is not inconceivable that a new 401(k)/pension hybrid that becomes available to employers on Jan. 1, 2010 could gain traction, Kiplinger’s reports.

New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Monday filed fraud charges against Charles Schwab & Co., alleging it misled investors about the risks of auction-rate securities.

JennisonDryden, the fund family of Prudential Financial, has added the Dryden Total Return Bond Fund to its lineup of asset allocation funds.