Portfolio

Putnam Investments is laying off 78 employees, or 4.4% of its workforce. The layoffs, primarily in operations, follow a 3% decline in assets under management, from $121 billion in 2010, to $117 billion in 2011.

Direct Edge said it received approval to launch a market maker program for its two national exchanges.

The SEC accelerated approval of rule changes to allow the Chicago Board Options Exchange to acquire the National Stock Exchange at the end of December.

Stocks closed mixed ahead of Friday’s much-anticipated December non-farm payrolls report as the Dow trimmed 2.72 points to finish at 12,415.70 while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 mustered small gains.

Fresh messages about the value of annuities have started to flow from a variety of sources.

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.