Portfolio

Plan managers hope lower prices lure back savers who are savvier — and more wary — of fees.

The reform bill that appears headed to enactment is designed to address problems that produced the 2008 financial crisis. A major premise behind the legislation seems to be that the crisis resulted in large part from regulators’ lack of adequate tools. Thus the bill provides the Securities and Exchange Commission, the primary regulator of mutual funds, and the Federal Reserve Board with even greater authority than they now possess. It also creates entirely new regulatory bodies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

Federal regulators would spend months, if not years, implementing the sweeping changes to the municipal market that were outlined in the financial regulatory reform legislation finalized by House and Senate negotiators late last week.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said it effected an "emergency asset freeze" against a 'purported fund manager' based in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

As the buyer base for Build America Bonds continues to expand, Fitch Ratings has created a website so investors unfamiliar with the municipal market can visit a "one-stop shop" for all BAB-related research

Global assets under management rose 16.3% to $49 trillion last year from a year earlier, according to Cerulli Associates.

For three days in late June, advisors, industry executives and fund managers descended on Chicago for the 2010 Morningstar Investment Conference. The audience received insight on the flash crash, international investing and the impact of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Industry bigwigs, including Vanguard's William McNabb, were among the speakers. (See part 2 here.)

According to Cerulli, net inflows rose 1.1%, as nervousness sidelined some investors.

While some financial companies worry about the ramifications of the sweeping financial reform that is set to pass, asset managers won’t feel the heat.

As the buyer base for Build America Bonds continues to expand, Fitch Ratings has created a website so investors unfamiliar with the municipal market can visit a "one-stop shop" for all BAB-related research.