Portfolio

Continued scrutiny by regulators and legislators on the fees and outcomes of 401(k)s and other defined contribution plans is pressuring revenues at asset managers, advisers and recordkeepers and will shape the future of the DC retirement plan market, according to a new study from Financial Research Corp., “Trends in Retirement/401(k) Plans and Administration.”

S&P Indices this week said 444 publicly traded firms increased their dividend payouts in the second quarter, a 32.5% increase from the 335 companies that bolstered shareholders' balances in the year-ago quarter.

Assets in U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded notes rose 39% from a year ago to $1.098 trillion at the end of June, up from nearly $788 billion at the end of June 2010, the National Stock Exchange said.

Porfolio Rethink has introduced seven new indexes that it says are alternatives to the 19th-century Standard & Poor’s 500 and Dow Jones Industrial average. Today, the company says, companies are global and investors are much more sophisticated.

The wind is at the back of alternative energy and it has a sunny future that investors should prepare to capitalize on. That’s the word from Anna Davydova, portfolio manager of Fidelity Select Environment and Alternative Energy.

In a major sting operation by a joint task force involving the Securities and Exchange Commission’s South Florida Regional Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami and the FBI, an alleged scheme involving several penny stock promoters and several CEOs of microchip companies has been exposed, with fraud charges filed against the principals.

Portfolio Rethink has introduced seven new indexes that it says are alternatives to the 19th-century Standard & Poor’s 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average. Today, the company says, companies are global and investors are much more sophisticated.

Following an announcement from The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in January that it ordered Charles Schwab & Company, Inc., to pay $18 million to repay investors in its YieldPlus Fund after investment losses, a FINRA Arbitrator awarded damages, attorney’s fees and other costs to a couple invested in the fund.

When it comes to sovereign risk ratings, it could be a case of "out of Greece and into the fire" as venerable credit-rating agency Standard & Poor's this week joined Moody’s in issuing a sobering warning that Italy could be the next European nation in line for a downgrade.

BlackRock favors U.S. growth stocks and quality U.S. bonds. GMO recommends cash rather than other forms of “tail-risk” protection. In Russell survey, bullish sentiment for U.S. large cap growth stocks dropped but still a majority view. Barclays expects that central banks will ignore recommendation by Bank of International Settlements to act against inflation.