Portfolio

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index for the U.S. increased sharply in October, by 0.9%, to 117.4 (2004 = 100). This follows a 0.1% increase in September and a 0.3% increase in August.

Jon B. Lovelace of The Capital Group died Wednesday at age 84. In 1951, Lovelace joined Capital Group, which his father, Jonathan Bell Lovelace, founded. His legacy was turning Capital Group into a pioneer in international and emerging market investing, a team approach to fund management and long-term investing.

And you thought the U.S. stocks were out of favor. Then came October. While $20.4 billion got pulled out of mutual funds that invest long-term in U.S. stocks, money was flooding into exchange-traded funds that invested in U.S. stocks.

Jon B. Lovelace of The Capital Group passed away Wednesday at age 84. In 1951, Lovelace joined Capital Group, which his father, Jonathan Bell Lovelace, founded.

NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse said they would shed overlapping European derivatives businesses and open up clearing services to derivatives rivals, in a bid to win European regulators’ approval of their $10.1 billion merger.

The International Securities Exchange said Thursday that it intended to provide venture capital to the exchange-traded product industry.

The operator of an all-electronic options exchange and licenser of financial indexes said it was beginning to fund the creation of exchange-traded funds by other parties.

According to the survey, 70% of RIAs cited market volatility as the top concern among their clients, while 99% said it was among clients’ top three concerns. Only 6% of RIAs said wealth accumulation was a top client concern.

Asset management firms recorded average profitability of 28% through 2010 and the first half of 2011, according to a new McKinsey report.

When it comes to mutual fund wholesaling, social media is a young man's game. Sales and distribution today are still all about in-person connections.