Alternative investments

The industry saw Bill Gross attracting $769 million to Janus, the global ETP market breaking an asset record, a prediction on how much of 401(k) contributions that target-date funds will capture by the end of the decade and a J.P. Morgan executive joining Wilton, Conn.,-based Commonfund as CEO.

Regulatory approval of Eaton Vance's non-transparent ETF has its industry competitors closely studying its offering to determine how its proposal succeeded where others failed, and whether they need to develop and offer their own version.

Money managers’ profits in North America last year surpassed pre-crisis levels, rebounding to $34 billion on asset and revenue growth, according to a study by McKinsey & Co. Profits were 18% above the pre-crisis peak in 2007 after assets reached $30 trillion. Profits at asset managers globally also moved past 2007 levels, increasing 15% to $65 billion from 2007. Assets reached a record $64 trillion last year.

John Hancock Investments president and CEO Andrew Arnott discusses the strategic decisions the firm made as it reengineered itself following its 2004 acquisition by Canadian insurer Manulife Financial, the challenges facing asset managers in answering alternative investment demand and even potential competition from non-traditional players entering the asset management space.

With ETF assets now poised to cross the $2 trillion mark in the U.S., industry experts gathered at the annual IMN global indexing and ETF conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., marveled at the rapid growth, innovation and market acceptance of exchange traded products in the last decade.

The net-long position in gold rose 31% to 104,532 futures and options contracts in the week ended Dec. 9, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. “We are seeing safety trade toward gold,” says Peter Sorrentino, a senior vice president who helps oversee $1.8 billion at Huntington Asset Advisors in Cincinnati.

The industry saw ETF inflows break a record, Russell Indexes liquidating a fund and mergers between asset manager service providers.

Concerns about an over-proliferation of ETFs, curiosity regarding how market demand will shape product innovation and questions about the direction of regulation are expected to punctuate discussions among those attending the 19th annual IMN global Indexing and ETF Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., that begins on Dec. 7.

Man Group, the largest publicly traded hedge fund manager in the world, will buy fund-of-hedge funds assets from Merrill Lynch Alternative Investments to expand in the U.S. The London-based firm will acquire the contracts to manage Merrill’s $1.2 billion multi-strategy investments, and will pay Merrill Lynch $2.9 million when the deal closes and 35% of the management fees generated annually for five years, not to exceed $30 million.

Supplying Chinese equity demand is not a simple process of deciding to launch an ETF product, providers say. There are a number of operational challenges that a firm must navigate to make the offering available, including managing a complex system of global exchange that involves precise timings and potential risks for clients.

The industry saw dollar hedge demand strong among ETFs, another insurer acquiring an asset manager and the second ETF provider to offer U.S. investors access to China's onshore bond market.

The world of what one might broadly label values-based investing has changed and expanded significantly in recent years. It has largely been a niche sector, albeit a growing one. But some advisors expect generational changes to affect future growth.

John Jacobs, executive vice president of global information services at Nasdaq and pioneer of the QQQ ETF, reflects on the growth of the ETF industry and shares his predictions on upcoming trends.

Aberdeen Asset Management, Europe’s largest publicly traded money manager by assets, reported $32 billion of outflows in the full year as investor sentiment toward emerging markets waned.

The largest U.S. ETF that tracks mainland Chinese stocks has jumped to a record premium to its underlying assets as unprecedented demand forces fund manager Deutsche Bank AG to all but stop taking in new money.

The end of the year is the perfect time to think about what you accomplished and what you want to accomplish in the next twelve months. This checklist will help ensure you've thought through the major considerations to plan your distribution strategy for 2015.

Among recent notable product launches is an ETF aimed at accessing China's onshore bond market, a new index that will track publicly-listed companies developing or providing cyber security technology, and a fund aiming to outperform an index composed of futures contracts on 14 heavily traded commodities.

Changes in the industry confront asset managers on several fronts. Michael Rawson, an analyst covering passive strategies on Morningstar's manager research team, shares his expectations on the outcomes these industry shifts will bring.

Aequitas Capital is hoping to woo advisors with an unusual but potentially potent pitch: its expertise in alternative investments.

Before advisors recommend the increasingly popular hedged investment strategy, they better know the basics.