Portfolio

Stocks and bonds are moving in the opposite direction more so than anytime in the last 10 years.

Nearly nine out of 10, 87%, of Americans think the country will fall into another recession within the next two years, a Country Financial survey finds. However, only half, 51%, say they are prepared to handle it financially.

Calling the odds of a recession in the U.S. and beyond “uncomfortably high,” Morgan Stanley Smith Barney says it has shifted to an overweight position in safe haven assets and is underweighting risk assets. The change is “the most significant change to our tactical asset allocation in more than two years,” Morgan Stanley Smith Barney’s Chief Investment Officer Jeff Applegate and two colleagues wrote in a November markets report.

NEW YORK—“We believe in back-to-basics, commonsense investing with the goal of achieving some return above inflation while seeking lower volatility,” said Suzanna Hutchins, investment manager of global funds at Newton, an affiliate of BNY Mellon.

Global X Funds has launched the Global X Social Media Index ETF (SOCL), which it says is the first ETF that will globally focus on social media companies. The fund will cover companies that provide social networking, file sharing and other web-based media applications.

Citi Prime Finance had launched “Hedge Fund 3.0,” an outsourcing operating model to cover the core functions of launching, managing and building out successful hedge funds. With the aid of this program, Citi said, hedge funds can focus instead on their investment management, marketing and investor relations.

Global X Funds has launched the Global X Social Media Index ETF (SOCL), which it says is the first ETF that will globally focus on social media companies. The fund will cover companies that provide social networking, file sharing and other web-based media applications.

Only 4% of plan sponsors have established goals to engage workers younger than 35 in their defined contribution plans, even though they know the younger generation's participation and contribution rates lag their older colleagues, a survey by Greenwich Associates for Northern Trust finds.

Corporate acquisitions using overpriced shares of stock rarely do much to cushion the decline the shares eventually suffer, according to a new study.

Every recognized profession has its top colleges. Medical and law schools in the U.S. date back to the 18th century. As a much more recent profession, financial planning has spent much of the last four decades developing its own system of education and professional certification. As many of the current crop of planners near retirement, they don't have to look too far to figure out where the next generation will come from. The answer is in all the schools. Not only has the number of programs been on the rise - up 15% since the past year and a half, according to the CFP Board - but enrollment in the programs themselves has generally been increasing, too. With so many CFP Board-registered programs out there, Financial Planning focused on 10 worthy institutions. We talked to veteran planners and industry leaders to get a sense of which 10 programs belonged in an overview. Our list is not a ranking. Like this survey itself, the information we've gathered is just a starting point. Think of it as Financial Planning Education 101, an introduction.