Portfolio

Municipal bond mutual funds saw inflows fall by more than half the previous week's amount, dropping for the second straight week. But they've thus far remained positive through the summer lull at $436 million for the week ended Aug. 22.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 115.30 points Thursday to close at 13,057.46 while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 lost 20.27 points and 11.41 points, respectively.

After a large inflow for the previous week, assets of institutional money market funds decreased by $1.06 billion to $1.686 trillion for the week ending Aug. 22.

The inclusion of alternative ETFs in a portfolio provides a risk-adjusted benefit to investors, according to research from Lipper.

John Hancock Financial, the U.S. division of Manulife Financial Corp., has named James D. Gallagher as executive vice president, general counsel and chief administrative officer.

The SEC has approved an Amex Options exchange plan to test trading in options contracts without any limits on the amount of contracts held in the SPDR S&P 500 Exchanged-Traded Fund. That gives the NYSE Euronext unit the ability to match the no-limits policy offered by the Chicago Board Options Exchange.

The Investment Company Institute, which lobbied heavily against money market regulatory changes that were supported by Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro, said it was “pleased” that the commission was dropping its plans to pursue those changes.

Plan participants who pick their own mix of investment options are generally exposed to greater risk due to reduced diversification, according to The Principal.

Generation X and Y are more likely to look for lower risk alternatives than boomers and older generations.

KPMG has brought on board several new partners and managing directors to bolster the firm’s Alternative Investment Funds practice.