Portfolio

Putnam Investments announced Thursday that the Lifetime Income Analysis Tool it developed for 401(k) plans to show investors how much monthly income their savings will deliver, has motivated investors to increase their retirement savings rate by an average of 23%. Participants can use the tool to change their retirement date, portfolio mix and contribution rate to immediately see the impact.

There are more choices than ever, but are these new products largely unnecessary?

Firm continues to roll out multi-asset class funds to meet demand for diversification.

A former municipal derivatives trading desk manager at Banc of America Securities LLC has pleaded guilty to one criminal count of engaging in a conspiracy to falsify bank records in connection with a scheme to rig bids and pay kickbacks for investment agreements and other financial contracts in the muni market.

March is Women’s History Month, which seems like the perfect time to highlight leading women who put their money behind women's causes. With 61% of wealth now in the hands of women, and the majority of the world’s poor being women, it makes sense that wealthy women are giving powerfully. Some of the women on our list are big names, while others are rising stars.

"Investors, while maintaining a core exposure to BRIC countries, should not close their eyes to other growth areas in the emerging world," Chris Laine, portfolio manager for active emerging market equities at State Street Global Advisors, said in the report. "Many of the smaller emerging and frontier economies have quietly been making investor-friendly reforms and deserve the attention of international investors."

MFS Investment Management has rolled out the MFS Global Multi-Asset and MFS Absolute Return funds in response to growing demand for greater portfolio diversification and lower volatility through multi-asset class funds.

PALM DESERT, Calif. -- At the start of 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission established a specialized unit within its Enforcement Division devoted to the looking for fraud and other perfidies in the $40 trillion field of asset management.

Wealthy investors apparently unnerved by rising oil prices and the potential for higher interest rates and inflation now say they are much less confident about the stock market and the broader economy than they were just one month ago.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has granted exemptive relief for iShares’ registration to offer actively managed equities and fixed income exchange-traded funds, which it filed nearly a year ago.