Portfolio

JPMorgan’s five-year plan to boost its mutual fund business appears to be paying off, with the company attracting $26 billion in 2008, making it the third best-selling fund family for the year, excluding money market funds, behind Vanguard and PIMCO. In 2004, investors redeemed $1.6 billion from JPMorgan funds. Still, however, with $91 billion in assets under management, however, JPMorgan is now the 14th-largest fund company in the nation.

Average 401(k) balances ended 2009 at $64,200, rising 28% for the year and 5.7% in the fourth quarter, Fidelity reported Wednesday, citing the activity of its 11 million participants in more than 17,000 defined contribution plans.

To enable portfolio managers of its target-date funds to respond more nimbly to extreme market volatility, starting in April, AllianceBernstein will allow these funds to move up to 20% of their assets from equities and real estate investment trusts into bonds and cash.

Fidelity Investments may possess the largest supermarket of mutual funds, $3.2 trillion of assets under administration and $1.5 trillion under management.

Bank brokerage revenue fell 14% in 2009 in relative terms across banks of all sizes, according to new data from Kehrer-LIMRA.

The Boston company may have the largest supermarket of mutual funds, but it’s no longer just about offering a wide selection of mutual funds or getting companies set up with retirement benefits programs.

Seventy-eight percent of advisers increased the number and duration of client contacts in 2009 to regain their trust after the very difficult year before, and while that has distracted many from business strategies, 68% of advisers are confident about their practices in the coming year. This is according to a survey of 1,804 advisers and 150 broker/dealers that Curian Capital conducted via Zoomerang.

Although the Obama administration recently gave its stamp of approval on annuities as a solution for retirement income, many professionals warn that their low yields and increasing fees should give investors pause, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Invesco has launched a defined contribution website at invesco.com/dc aimed at plan sponsors, consultants, recordkeepers and advisers. It will include information as well as brochures, calculators, whitepapers and videos.

U.S. stock mutual funds received $2.7 billion in inflows in January, reversing four consecutive months of outflows. “I think investors are growing more comfortable coming back into the stock market after 2009’s rally,” Morningstar Senior Fund Analyst Sonya Morris told The Wall Street Journal. “They’re beginning to show signs of shaking off some of the fear that was induced from 2008’s downturn.”