Portfolio

ING Solutions Funds Portfolio Manager Paul Zemsky has been bullish about the economy since the second quarter of last year and he expects strong growth to continue.

Hedge funds were up just slightly in February, mostly in line with global markets. But is the lack of skyrocketing returns making investors increasingly averse to these high-fee funds?

Pending hedge fund regulations in the European Union are “protectionist [and] discriminate against U.S. firms and activities,” Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Timing of Senate Action Is Unclear

Pending hedge fund regulations in the European Union are “protectionist [and] discriminate against U.S. firms and activities,” Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Sixty-one percent of leading mutual fund companies are taking advantage of the provision in the 2010 Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act that allows investors to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth, by proactively educating investors, a Corporate Insight analysis found.

Bullish sentiment toward equities has shifted from Europe to America and Japan, according to a BoA Merrill Lynch fund manager survey.

HSBC Global Asset Management is planning a UCITS III European absolute-return fund, the HSBC GIF European Alpha Equity Fund, scheduled to debut next month. The fund will use both quantitative and qualitative factors in a market-neutral strategy to invest in stocks, equity swaps and short positions in developed European nations.

Citing the elimination of doubt about the healthcare reform bill by its historic passage on Sunday, Legg Mason Chairman and Chief Investment Officer Bill Miller believes healthcare stocks will benefit from the new bill in the near-term, but as higher taxes kick in, the overall market could suffer, Reuters reports.

IndexIQ is the latest provider to join in on the trend, offering Canadian and Australian small-cap ETFs, the first two in a series of such single-country funds.