Temma Ehrenfeld

Morningstar said investors pulled $7.6 billion from muni bond funds, the category’s worst month for outflows except for the $8 billion redeemed in October 2008 during the credit crisis peak.

Rollovers into traditional IRAs occur across the working years, not just at retirement, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Deutsche Bank launched two ETFs for values based investors this week. Both will directly invest in a portfolio of securities, rather than rely on swaps, or “synthetic” index replication.

As news comes out of the climate change conference in Cancun, investors are eager to bet on non-fossil fuel technology.

Barclays says the interest rate sell-off in November is a market reaction to better-than-expected data.

Asset management fees for hedge funds, private equity, infrastructure and real estate have all fallen in both pooled and separately managed accounts, according to the 2010 Asset Manager Fee Survey by Mercer.

Thirty-one percent of employers say they will offer a Roth conversion option within their 401(k) by the end of next year, but few employees seem interested.

And 18% have increased contributions, up from 13% in the fourth quarter of 2009, Principal Financial finds.

Where you live may have a big impact on both your emotional and financial preparation for retirement, according to survey released Tuesday by Ameriprise Financial.

A closer look at trends in the economy and investment sector.

Twenty-three percent of middle-class IRA remain undecided about converting to an IRA, according to a study.

It’s a good time to open up conversations about future medical expenses, especially when it comes to clients who are shy about confiding medical issues and those reluctant to purchase long term care policies.

Baby boomers have seen first-hand the value of long term care insurance: Among those whose parents collected on a policy, 72% said it was a good value in a Mathew Greenwald survey.

The index rose 1% from October, but despite this growth, many advisors agreed economic growth would continue to be slow and RIAs were actually less optimistic about stocks than before.

A commodity price shock could push policymakers to allow inflation to rise by as much as three points in some emerging markets, Barclays projects.

Is there still time to buy gold?

Regulators are likely to use “red flag” statistical screens to monitor hedge funds and identify cheaters early.

Core inflation will inch up to 1.5% next year, the forecasting panel at the National Association of Business Economics projected Monday, well below the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%.

Is deflation still a threat? Probably not, according to Barclays. Core CPI was flat, but prices for nondurables for producers are rising. Industrial production and retail sales data for October support GDP growth through year-end. Internet sales, especially, are up. And TIPS were auctioned to the market with a negative yield for the first time in the thirteen year history of the TIPS market, indicating fears of inflation.

College savings funds have slashed fees this year, Morningstar reports, making them worth another look.