Portfolio

NEW YORK—Absolute-return funds may now only total $140 billion, a scant 1.2% of the $11.26 trillion in mutual funds, but that will grow to 10% to 15% over the next decade, predicts Putnam Investments President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Reynolds

Charles Schwab announced on Tuesday that ETF assets exceeded $100 billion, in part because of the success of Schwab’s own ETF products.

LPL advisor Stephen Wedel is wowing clients by creating retirement income streams out of investment sources most advisors don’t touch.

Assets in U.S. exchange-traded funds rose to $924.9 billion as of October 31 - its highest level on record - up $39.9 billion or 4.5% during the month.

The economic downturn took a toll on how much money wealthy families donated to charity in 2009, with average gift amounts tumbling by 35% from 2007, according to a Bank of America study released on Tuesday.

“Everything feels better than it did 12 to 18 months ago, but not as good as it did three to six months ago,” he said during a lunch time interview with Charlie Rose on Monday at SIFMA's annual conference in New York City.

BOSTON-A chorus of revolutionaries convinced that traditional, growth, value and blend style-dominated asset allocation needs to be replaced by strategic, tactical allocation was quite vocal at FundForum 2010 USA here last week.

So it almost looked like the six-month-long nightmare in funds flowing out of mutual funds that invest in U.S. stocks, long-term, was ending.

U.S. small-cap value stocks-consumer discretionary, industrials, financials and energy in particular-are poised to deliver solid returns as the economy and the stock market continue to improve, according to investment officers at recent outlook briefings.

Money market funds continue to waive big chunks of their management fees as yields on cash instruments remain too low to charge the full amount.