Portfolio

Thirty-six percent of the 1,019 investors that Edward Jones surveyed said they believe technology will be the best-performing sector in 2011, and 31% are betting on gold.

Assets in 529 college savings plans have grown 56% in the past 24 months, beating industry estimates by 30%, Financial Research Corp. told the College Savings Foundation at its annual conference in San Diego yesterday.

Global X Funds has launched the Global X FTSE Argentina 20 ETF, rounding out its suite of Latin American exchange-traded funds.

Equity funds see inflows of $2.53 billion, down from $6.42 billion the week before.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday unanimously agreed to propose amendments to its Rule 2a-7 that would remove all credit rating references from the rule, which requires money market funds to invest in high-quality and very liquid short-term securities.

Advisors face two major challenges in today’s environment: intense competition for client assets and pressures on profitability. Kelly Coughlin of GlobalBridge says that unified managed accounts have evolved to provide a solution to both challenges at once. But how can advisors use UMAs to expand their business?

Mahoney, who has worked for the San Mateo, Calif., based investment manager since 1993, is “now responsible for overseeing and mentoring the firm’s internal sales staff, and will also seek ways to enhance sales techniques to make them more salient in the digital age.”

Companies may need to provide more information to assess climate change risks and opportunities.

Retirement plan participants using an online tool save at an average rate of 39% higher than other plan participants, according to a study by Principal Financial Group of its clients.

The Kansas City, Mo., based institutional asset manager announced Wednesday it hired Michael Hedstrom as a senior vice president of marketing.