Portfolio

Investors who relied on professional help in the form of target-date funds, managed accounts and advice earned nearly three percentage points more than those that did not, according to an analysis of eight large defined contribution plans between 2006 and 2010 by Aon Hewitt and Financial Engines. The plans covered 400,000 participants with $25 billion in assets.

Russell Investments has added four additional investment discipline indexes to its series, all of which concentrate on small-cap securities.

Americans are divided on their outlook for the economy, a Harris poll of 2,464 adults earlier this month found. Twenty-one percent expect the economy will improve, 45% think it will stay the same, and 34% fear it will get worse.

Orion Advisor Services unveiled the latest release for it Advisor Desktop portfolio management suite for RIAs on Monday with new features designed to make it easier for advisors using the primary database management tool to rebalance their clients’ portfolios and create tax efficient strategies at the household level.

NEW YORK-"We are not in a death spiral, like we were in 2008 with Lehman Brothers," maintained Scott Migliori, U.S. chief investment officer of RCM, an asset management firm that is a member of Allianz Global Investors.

Muni investors have herded into short-term debt the last few months thinking that if rates rise, longer-term bonds will plummet in value and it will be good to have cash on hand to reinvest at higher rates. But are short-term bonds really such a safe haven?

Within a day of each other, two companies -- Guggenheim Investments and Invesco -- launched new exchange traded funds for Chinese yuan-denominated bonds on the New York Stock Exchange.

The latest entrant into the wealth management arena comes not from Wall Street but from just outside Silicon Valley, and is taking dead aim at the Internet brokerage space for higher-end investors with a slick Web-based dashboard, holistic account monitoring and a stable of financial advisers to complement the technology with a human touch.

Credit Suisse has launched the Credit Suisse Global Equity Market Neutral ETN, its fifth alternative exchange-traded note.

Fidelity Charitable has created an array of seven investment options offering diversification across asset classes and risk. In addition, Fidelity Charitable has created an online tool to help investors make investment decisions.