Portfolio

Consumer sentiment, as measured by the Consumer Reports Trouble Tracker Index, remains in negative territory in May for the second consecutive month, with consumers worried about slow job growth and news of the economic recovery stalling.

With Fitch Rating's admonishment last week it would put U.S. debt on watch for a downgrade in early August, all three of the major rating agencies now have issued unprecedented warnings about the U.S. debt crisis, putting the country’s AAA credit rating in danger. But so far, Treasury investors have reacted with a collective yawn.

As investors become more worried about the U.S. economy, they seem to be pouring more money into bond funds and international equity funds and less money into domestic equity funds and ETFs, according to Strategic Insight, a business intelligence provider to the worldwide fund industry.

Neuberger Berman has launched the Neuberger Berman Global Allocation Fund, a flexile, go-anywhere fund designed to serve as the core of an investor’s portfolio.

Alternative investment advisor Equinox Fund Management has launched the Equinox Commodity Strategy Fund, a market-neutral mutual fund that aims to exploit inefficiencies in the futures contracts market by taking both long and short positions.

ING’s U.S. Retirement Services business will offer the ESG Managers Portfolios, socially responsible asset allocation portfolios from Pax World Management and sub-advised by Morningstar, to the defined contribution plans it administers.

Highland Funds has merged the Highland Floating Rate Advantage Fund and the Highland Floating Rate Fund into the Highland Floating Rate Opportunities Fund, which offers better, daily liquidity features.

The Hartford is betting that enhancements to its variable annuity suite will pull it ahead of competitors in the race to offer investors secure retirement income options.

Investors' infatuation with both exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and dividend-paying stocks helped Global X Funds' new SuperDividend ETF fly out of the gates in its first trading day last week.

Tradeweb said it added high-yield bonds to its European credit trading platform. The addition of high-yield bonds was intended to help asset managers "to enhance portfolio returns,'' in a period of low interest rates.