Portfolio

Now is a good time to buy contemporary art, even though prices have never been higher, the Dallas-based collector Howard Rachofsky says as he digests his bratwurst.

Ridgefield, Conn.-based Simple Alternatives, an alternative mutual fund shop, has added two more long/short managers to its flagship S1 Fund (SONEX), a multi-manager, long/short equity mutual fund.

MainStay Investments is looking to give its retirement business a boost by offering additional non-revenue share class (R6 Shares) for six funds, effective June 17.

Sessions at the 25th annual Morningstar Investment Conference covered a range of topics from actively managed ETFs, closed-end funds and alternatives to strategies to boost retirement income and solutions to the “yield conundrum.” Here is a baker's dozen of the smartest things we heard at the conference.

The TCW Group has added Joseph Carieri as head of U.S. institutional distribution and marketing, responsible for all marketing activities and initiatives related to the institutional investor community.

While liquid alternative assets grew double-digits last year within the wirehouse segment, the asset class has also seemingly hit a wall.

The movement to integrate previously disconnected applications used on the advisor desktop grabs the “low hanging fruit” opportunity for efficiency – eliminating repeated manual entry of data, but Neal Ringquist says advisors are barely scratching the surface of opportunity.

The U.S. exchange-traded funds market is primed to double up on its current $1.5 trillion in assets to the tune of more than $3.5 trillion in assets over the next five years, according to iShares’ latest forecast.

Advisors may soon see lower fees for liquid alternative asset funds – hedge fund mutual funds – thanks to the push by hedge fund managers to market these plans more aggressively into the defined contribution space, according to panelists at last week's 25th annual Morningstar Investment Conference.

Scottrade emerged as the top-rated firm in J.D. Power & Associates 2013 U.S. Self-Directed Investor Satisfaction Study, but overall investor satisfaction with self-directed firms declined from last year.