Portfolio

European Union talks on granting hedge funds a Continental passport to do business and subjecting them to oversight by the new securities regulator has hit an impasse, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration will require 401(k) plans starting Jan. 1, 2012 to clearly spell out all fees and expenses each quarter so that investors can more readily compare the costs of their holdings.

Van Eck Global has launched the Market Vectors China ETF, a U.S.-listed exchange-traded fund that tacks the performance of the CSI 300 Index from China Securities Index Co. to give investors exposure to the A-shares traded on China’s two main exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen. These shares account for 72% of China’s equities, whereas H-shares, or shares traded on lesser exchanges in Hong Kong and elsewhere, account for 13% of China’s total equity market.

You need to know where your profits are coming from, but to truly serve your clients, it would also be nice to know how their behavior separates them into groups.

Fidelity has been underwriting more bonds than since the late 1980s.

For four days in October, financial planners and advisors descended on Denver for the annual FPA Conference, which delivered information, tips and advice to help practitioners build a better business.

Seeing an increased appetite for munis from individual buyers, Fidelity Investments has ramped up its underwriting capabilities in recent years, saying it wants to give clients quicker access to new product with better prices and more transparency.

The economy is outright preventing or dissuading many American workers from saving for retirement, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

TD Ameritrade’s bold move to offer 101 commission-free ETFs is likely to bolster the trend.

Expert investors and analysts have been saying it for years: Economies in the emerging markets have become so sophisticated that the so-called frontier markets are becoming the place to find richer yields.