Portfolio

The Principal Financial Group has entered into a definitive agreement to buy a 60 percent stake in Claritas Investments, Ltd., a Sao Paulo-based mutual fund and asset management company with more than $1.8 billion in assets under management.

Independent broker-dealer Paulson Investment Company has agreed to transfer its retail operations to RIA and broker-dealer JHS Capital Advisors.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management yesterday unveiled two funds today: a managed futures fund and a short duration income fund. These launches follow the launch of a rising dividend growth fund on Monday.

The municipal market for the month of February continued its upswing in new issuance of long-term bonds from one year earlier.

Fidelity Investments has launched an initiative dubbed “Thinking Big,” for publicly promoting the research of its investment analysts and experts. The firm will launch the initiative in conjunction with its sponsorship of the 2012 TED conference, an annual event that brings together global thought leaders.

Bank of America has added a new investment offering to its Merrill Edge program for mass-affluent investors.

Independent advisory firm French, Wolf and Farr has increased its AUM after taking on Piedmont Asset Management.

Bill Gross and his team of bond specialists at Pacific Investment Management Company built the Total Return Fund into the world’s largest mutual fund, with more than a quarter-billion dollars in assets. Can he (and they) repeat the trick, with a Total Return exchange-traded fund?

The shares finished trading on their first day worth $99.96. Altogether, 550,375 shares changed hands on the NYSE Arca electronic exchange.

For some companies, there was a lot to love about February. Here’s an interactive slide show highlighting the 5 best-performing Dow component stocks for February 2012.