Portfolio

The operators of the Hong Kong Exchanges are taking steps to enter the index business, toward creating benchmarks of the performance of stocks on mainland China and in emerging markets, such as Russia, Brazil, India and South Africa.

Since the financial crisis and Great Recession, 401(k) plans have undergone dramatic shifts. To foster diversification and greater participation, 51% of participants in Fidelity Investments' 401(k) plans are in automatically enrolled plans, up from 16% five years ago, and 73% of the plans use target-date funds as the default, up from 11% in 2006. In the past year, 64% of sponsors changed their investment lineup-up dramatically from 20% in 2008.

The State Street Investor Confidence Index rose two points in November to 97.2. In North America, the index rose 4.7 points to 95.2, and in Europe, it rose 5.4 points to 101.5. In Asia, however, the index fell 4.2 points to 94.6.

Since the financial crisis and Great Recession, 401(k) plans have undergone dramatic shifts. To foster diversification and greater participation, 51% of participants in Fidelity Investments' 401(k) plans are in automatically enrolled plans, up from 16% five years ago, and 73% of the plans use target-date funds as the default, up from 11% in 2006.

PHOENIX, Ariz. – He blew right by me. On one leg.

The operators of the Hong Kong Exchanges are taking steps to enter the index business, toward creating benchmarks of the performance of stocks on mainland China and in emerging markets, such as Russia, Brazil, India and South Africa.

Fidelity Investments has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Dec. 1 to offer a broad range of domestic and international equity and fixed income exchange-traded funds – putting to rest longtime speculations as to when, not if, Fidelity would enter the ETF market.

The Dow Jones Industrial average closed out its best week in more three years Friday essentially flat, finishing off less than one point (0.61) at 12,019.42 despite a much-better-than-expected jobs report.

Assets of the nation’s exchange-traded funds rose 10.9% in October to slightly more than $1 trillion, according to the Investment Company Institute’s latest report on ETFs. That’s up $131.4 billion, or 14.2%, from a year ago.

Here’s why it might make sense to diversify into some Asian mutual funds, according to analysts at S&P Capital IQ: While Europe’s growth will be hampered by debt turmoil in the next year, growth in Asia is expected to continue to exceed that of the United States.