Portfolio

Annuity sales in the second quarter of 2012 totaled $57 billion, down 8% from the year-ago quarter, according to LIMRA.

Nasdaq OMX Group said it plans to launch 150,000 indexes by the end of next year. The firm will raise redefine 'real-time" to feature tick by tick updating of index values

Incapital, an underwriter of fixed income securities and financial products, has launched Incapital Canada.

Year-to-date, total annuity sales declined eight percent compared to the first half of 2011, reaching $57.0 billion, according to LIMRA.

UBS AG is starting a unit aimed at quantitative hedge funds that combines prime brokerage and services from its direct execution trading business.

Columbia Management is planning to further expand into the actively managed ETF space with 17 new ETFs.

August's Top 5 Equity Vesting Awards

Starting a hedge fund is much different from launching other kinds of companies. Most significantly, there is almost no chance that you will be able to start this business out of a garage. No -- to get a hedge fund up and running, you need buckets and buckets of cash.

Lifelong income solutions for defined contribution plans are on the way. With defined benefit plans waning and life expectancy waxing, more retirees will need more guaranteed income than Social Security can provide.

Closed-end fund assets increased $1.61B during Q2. Equity fund assets decreased by $1.5B to $96.21B, and bond fund assets increased by $3.11B to $153.39B.