Portfolio

Redemption fees successfully protect mutual funds from short-term traders, whose churning can serious hurt fund performance, according to “Redemption Fees: Reward for Punishment,” authored by three researchers at Texas Tech University’s Division of Personal Financial Planning.

In their recent shift toward retail deposits, one factor that has helped banks is weak competition from money market funds.

While competitors struggled in 2009, Jackson National Life Insurance Co. reported its best year for annuity sales through banks.

But the organization remains strongly opposed to doing away with a steady net asset value, which is usually $1.00 per share, and is a fundamental feature of money market funds.

Premiums are down 12%, but with the cost of risk rising, life sellers should take the opportunity to prepare for a brighter future.

T. Rowe Price is looking to buy a stake worth $1 billion or more. T. Rowe Price, China asset management, James A.C. Kennedy

T. Rowe Price is looking to buy a stake worth $1 billion or more in China Asset Management, according to reports.

But uncertainty still reigns.

After the housing market crash, people are undervaluing the importance of home equity in their retirement savings.

The American investor is just as confused about this economic recovery as advisors are, according to data from Morningstar.