Portfolio

A recent survey of 3,300 working Americans conducted by Putnam Investments disclosed that American households are on track to replace only about 64% of their current income in retirement -- significantly less than the 75% of income that most financial professionals recommend.

With the risk of a second downturn in the U.S. economy rising and debt problems continuing to plague Europe, many investors are shunning the equities market altogether. Meanwhile, the rush to safety in fixed-income investments has driven yields down to “incredibly low” levels, according to analysts.

Celebrities are not the only ones to make mistakes with their estate planning. It happens to people all across the country on a regular basis. According to legacy expert attorneys Andy and Danielle Mayoras, one of the most common estate planning mistakes that people make is joint ownership.

Analysts at Standard & Poor's are looking to exchange-traded funds rooted in individual countries as a vehicle for advisors and their clients to compensate for sustained weakness in the U.S. economy.

Krusen Capital Management, investment advisor to a hedge-fund platform, has added Boston-based Windham Capital Management to its roster of hedge fund and private-equity managers.

Driving down costs with more technological innovation and avoiding regulatory hurdles and losses through far more robust risk management are two of the key concerns of mutual fund boards today.

Analysts at Standard & Poor's are looking to exchange-traded funds rooted in individual countries as a vehicle for advisors and their clients to compensate for sustained weakness in the U.S. economy.

Instinet said it handled 43 percent more volume in the trading of stocks in the United States in August, compared to July.

Forty-two percent of hedge fund managers became bearish on stocks in August, up markedly from 27% who were pessimistic in July, according to a survey by BarclayHedge and TrimTabs Investment Research. This is the largest percentage of bearish hedge fund managers in a year.

The constant barrage of bad news has eroded consumer, investor and business confidence to dangerously low levels.