Portfolio

Investor confidence has declined, but concerns over the European economy appear to be easing, a monthly Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey of fund managers found.

Registered investment advisor firms need more capacity to handle client demand for professional financial planning advice. That aligns with the recent trend of wirehouse brokers getting fed up with that channel and considering doing business in the independent channel instead.

Invesco PowerShares plans to launch its second exchange-traded fund devoted to Build America Bonds, highlighting both the proliferation of municipal ETFs and the growing importance of taxable state and local government debt.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is stepping up its enforcement efforts in the municipal securities market for the first time in more than a decade, with a staff of roughly 30 attorneys charged with investigating and trying muni and public pension fund cases.

France raised its pension retirement age by a mere two years, from 60 to 62, and people took great umbrage to that. Protests broke out in the street, and union leaders said they'll strike. One-third of the nation's TVG fast trains were expected to be canceled.

The SEC will also require glidepath graphics and asset allocation taglines in advertisements—a new twist for funds that really aren’t as easy as they look.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 5:0 Wednesday to require target-date funds to do a better job of explaining the purpose of their retirement date, how their asset-allocation glidepaths change over time, and, in a new twist, to include easy-to-understand visuals in ads.

Charles Schwab opens the doors to its "virtual university" to help RIAs better utilize its technology

As of May 31, 885 exchange-traded funds in the United States had $748 billion in assets, down 5.5% from a month earlier.

The ICI is asking both high-frequency traders and dark pools for more information—and turning to the SEC for help.