Portfolio

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.

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Global X Funds has launched the Global X Fishing Industry ETF, which it says is the first exchange-traded fund to target the fishing industry. It will invest in commercial fishing companies that capture fish from the wild and aquaculture fish farming companies.

Global X Funds has launched the Global X Mexico Small-Cap ETF, which it says is the first exchange-traded fund to focus on Mexico’s small-cap companies.