Portfolio

Investor behavior has been very unusual since the market’s 70% rally began in early March, and if hundreds of billions of dollars of retail investors’ money remains on the sidelines, market volatility or even a bear market could continue, The Wall Street Journal reports.

John Hancock has launched a microsite and accompanying advertisements addressing the many looming, difficult questions near-retirees have, such as how to leave a legacy, how best to work with a financial adviser, how to repair a beaten-down portfolio and how to juggle multiple financial goals including saving for retirement, taking care of aging parents and saving for a child’s education.

FUSE Research and Momentum Partners have formed a strategic partnership to help financial services companies grow through more efficient strategies and distribution, by relying on FUSE’s strategic consulting and Momentum’s research and analysis.

The average financial adviser works closely with 14 fund companies and receives more than 100 e-mails, letters, wholesaler visits and internal sales desk calls a month from them, according to Cogent Research’s “Adviser Touchpoints 2009” report.

Fidelity Investments is offering new resources to help investors and advisers decide if converting a regular IRA to a Roth IRA makes financial sense, adding a conversion evaluator calculator to its website that takes 20 minutes or less to use: fidelity.com/rothevaluator. Fidelity also has tax professionals available by phone and at its 132 investor branches across the nation, and has just published a “Viewpoint” article on the importance of tax diversification on its website: fidelity.com/taxdiversification.

For money market fund advisors and investors, help on yields is seen on the way.

Plan sponsors are becoming more aggressive about helping their workers save for retirement, and even investment advice is now offered, Hewitt Associates found in a survey of 300 mid- and large-sized companies.

Value Line, its CEO and former CCO settled civil charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission for $45 million for having improperly funneled mutual fund trades to its affiliated broker/dealer and pocketing $24 million in commissions.

Of the wirehouse advisers who switched firms, 34% moved to another wirehouse, while 18% went independent. Another 11% of those wirehouse advisers went to a regional firm.

Putnam Chief Executive Officer Robert Reynolds is once again sounding the call for a new approach to 401(k) investing, inclusive of annuities and other retirement income products. This time, he is asking Washington to create a national insurance charter that will ensure consistent regulation for assured income products.