Portfolio

Muni Provisions Could Cost $20 billion

Money market funds are welcoming the Federal Reserve’s offer to buy an estimated $1 trillion in reverse repos, as the economy continues to rebound and the government looks to reduce the $2 trillion it pumped into the capital markets.

Financial planners and advisers hope that by boosting marketing they can expand their practices this year, according to a survey released by TD Ameritrade Institutional.

Investors continue to stuff municipal bond mutual funds with cash, supporting bond prices even as by some measures they are nearly as expensive as they have ever been.

Capital Fulfillment Group has debuted ClickOne, a summary prospectus tool in compliance with Securities and Exchange Commission rules. Using patented technologies, it is designed to offer a simple and cost-effective way for mutual fund companies to equip investors with summary prospectuses via print-on-demand. CFG estimates this will reduce asset management firms' printing costs by 80%.

AlphaOne Capital Partners, a hedge fund and alternative investments boutique founded by former Gartmore CEO Paul J. Hondros, has selected SEI to provide a complete outsourcing solution, including a full range middle- and back-office services.

America’s millionaires are bouncing back. The number of U.S. households with a net worth of $1 million or more, not including their primary residence, grew 16% to 7.8 million in 2009, up from 6.7 million the year before, Spectrem Group’s “Affluent Market Insights 2010” report shows. In 2008, the millionaire population declined 27%.

While workers’ confidence in their ability to retire and at least pay for basic expenses has rebounded since the start of the recession, Americans clearly are not setting their expectations high enough.

Guaranteed living benefits may now be synonymous with variable annuities, but unless insurers rein in costs and restore benefits, sales may continue to slide.

The company launched an FDIC-insured, high-yield online savings accounts and certificates of deposit.