Portfolio

If you've got the right asset allocation model, it doesn't really matter what large-cap equity fund you use.

Investors pulled more than $125 billion out of mutual funds that invest long-term in stocks last year, according to the latest data released by the Investment Company Institute. Of that, $5.2 billion got pulled in the week leading up to New Year’s Eve.

How a tiny, focused portfolio can outperform funds' benchmark indexes over time.

Investors added $117.6 billion to their holdings in exchange-traded funds in 2011. That is almost identical to 2010, when they added $118.7 billion, and 2009, when they added $119.4 billion. But the value of their holdings only increased $51.4 billion, because the value of their shares fell, according to the Exchange Traded Fund Association.

Investing in 2012 may very well prove to be the year of “risky business” because of the possible rewards and punishments, according to Prudential Annuities Chief Market Strategist Quincy Krosby.

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Growth in exchange-traded funds fell to 5.1% in 2011, from 27.5% in 2010 and 46.7% in 2009, according to figures released by the Exchange Traded Fund Association. The category with the biggest gains: fixed-income funds.

Investors pulled more than $125 billion out of mutual funds that invest long-term in stocks last year, according to the latest data released by the Investment Company Institute. Of that, $5.2 billion got pulled in the week leading up to New Year’s Eve.

A pair of conflicting domestic economic reports combined with more unsettling news from Europe left stocks largely unchanged Wednesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average managed to only pick up 21 points to close at 12,418.42.

Long-term mutual funds were hit with $2.62 billion in outflows the week ended Dec. 28, the Investment Company Institute said Wednesday. This was up from outflows of $1.87 billion the week ended Dec. 21.