Portfolio

Sens. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., have introduced a proposal to reform the federal estate tax, which temporarily expired this year but is slated to increase to up to 55 percent next year for estates over $1 million.

Affluent investors ended the first half of the year on a sour note, their confidence slipping seven points in June, to minus-12 on Spectrem Group's Affluent Investor Confidence Index, but advisers say that falling confidence presents an opportunity rather than an obstacle.

Despite investor concerns about a global economic recovery, BlackRock's Bob Doll and Deutsche Bank's Ben Pace are optimistic.

The San Diego-based company, which announced it was going public in June, hopes to expand its network of financial advisors.

Thomas G. McLoughlin is stepping down from his role as president and chief executive officer at National Public Finance Guarantee Corp. to join UBS Financial Services as head of its municipal research division.

International investment managers from across the spectrum have cast a dark shadow on the prospective effects for inflation and commercial real estate, but they are optimistic toward gains in currency and the U.S. and Asian equity markets, however.

Twelve percent more fund managers surveyed this month by Bank of America Merrill Lynch forecast that the global economy will deteriorate in the next 12 months, than said the economy would grow. Last month, the net result of the survey was that, on balance, 24% more fund managers predicted the global economy would pick up steam, than lose it.

Sixty-five percent of respondents said they are more concerned about their finances today than they were at the beginning of the financial crisis.

An age-old standard, gold, was one of the most touted alternative investments at the Morningstar 2010 Investment Conference in Chicago last month.

The sovereign debt crisis coupled with persistently high unemployment rates in the United States and continued fears over the 2008 financial meltdown has rocked investor confidence, so much so that investor mood has completely turned around in the past month.