Portfolio

Rising costs and adjusted benefits don’t put annuity buyers off.

Long-term mutual funds lost money in every category, except for bonds, for a total of $16.6 billion walking out the door in the week ended May 26, the ICI said.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Warren Buffett warned a panel investigating the causes of the financial crisis Wednesday that states and localities may face “terrible” financial distress in the next five to 10 years that in turn could lead some to look to the federal government for bailouts.

JPMorgan, consistently one of the top municipal bond underwriters, has been responding to increased appetite in the market recently by expanding its retail networks, marketing taxable munis for international distribution, and bulking up its public finance staff.

Investors pulled $16.6 billion from long-term mutual funds in the week ended May 26, the Investment Company Institute said Wednesday. It was the second week of outflows since mid-May, reversing the previous 57 straight weeks of inflows. Long-term funds lost $9.9 billion in the week ended May 12 and managed to take in $4.3 billion the following week ended May 19.

More than 200 top financial advisors, planners and RIAs attended the recent Women Advisor Forum in New York City, where attendees learned about some of the best ways to build a book of business and tips on how to gain referrals of high net worth clientele. Sessions included career advice and a powerhouse panel of top investment directors, EVPs, and CEOs speaking about how they overcame career obstacles. (Our next Women Advisor Forum takes place on June 16 in Chicago. Click here to register or find out details about the event.)Below are photo highlights from the New York event.

An “empowered investor base” demanding greater transparency and liquidity from managers, while also zeroing in on absolute returns and uncorrelated investment strategies, has led to a significant demand for alternative mutual funds in the U.S. and Europe, a new whitepaper finds.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority are warning investors to beware of stock scams that promise easy profits from cleanup efforts related to the catastrophic BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Payden & Rygel announced Wednesday with a WSJ tombstone advertisement that it has opened its first office on the East Coast, selecting Boston’s Financial District.

The search for absolute returns and uncorrelated investment strategies spikes demand in U.S. and Europe.