Portfolio

In the last 18 to 24 months these proudcts have become increasingly available to the mass affluent because of a reduction in costs and an increase in efficiency, said AJ Harper, managing director of Lockwood Advisors, an affiliate of Pershing, in an interview at the Money Management Institute annual conference.

Their plans are evidenced in a survey by Harris Interactive for Aberdeen Asset Management.

But investors redeem $1.9 billion from equity funds.

The “magic” 5% tax-free yield is ­sustaining strong demand from retail investors.

Only 45% of affluent investors are satisfied with their employer-sponsored retirement plan provider, according to a report from Cogent Research. Forty-three percent say they are somewhat satisfied, and 12% are dissatisfied.

Putnam Investments is the inaugural recipient of the Innovation and Growth Forum’s Innovation Award for its suite of absolute return funds. The Forum was launched by Financial Advisor Magazine and Spectrem Group to help asset management firms with their post-economic crisis strategies.

The average 401(k) balance held with Fidelity Investments reached $74,500 at the end of the first quarter, a 12% increase from a year ago and a 58% increase from two years ago. This is the highest account level since Fidelity began tracking account balances in 1998.

The company has seven equal-weight ETFs, six of which have been launched since December.

Investment firms sparred with regulators during a Securities and Exchange Commission roundtable over the potential risk money market funds could pose to the financial system.

money-market-funds-banking-floating-net-asset-value