Portfolio

DST Global Selects Sarwal As CEO of Investment Biz

Big Money Placing Bets on Continued Rally

Despite this year's arduous business environment, independent RIAs remain optimistic, according to the results of Charles Schwab's 2009 RIA Benchmarking Study. In fact, 84% of advisers surveyed expect to grow moderately or faster over the next five years, with 35% predicting aggressive growth and 49% seeing growth at a more modest pace looking forward.

Political support for the Obama administration's regulatory reform plan is faltering, leaving many to question the Treasury Department's strategy for enactment.

The average return of U.S. equity mutual funds in the second quarter, a stunning 19.77%, was certainly welcome news, but it gave investors absolutely no reason to believe the stock market was turning around. After all, what fundamentals were there?

In order to survive this marathon recession, experts say fund companies will need lean cost management operations with the stamina to endure prolonged, stagnant growth.

Now that the global economy appears to be on the road to recovery, investors are gradually beginning to step off the sidelines and take on more risk, as markedly proven by fund flows. Money market fund assets surged to $3.9 trillion in March, but have since fallen back to $3.6 trillion. Meanwhile, investors steadily withdrew $259 billion from equity funds between June 2008 and March, but in the past four months, they have since have moved $50 billion back in.

Young investors may not have much, if anything, to lose in the stock market, but seeing their parents and grandparents suffer from the market declines following the dot-com crash and then the credit crisis over the past 10 years has taken a severe toll on their risk appetite, The Denver Post reports.

The average 401(k) balance is back at the level it was in 2004, according to a report by the Employee Benefit Research Institute—essentially wiping out the past five years of investing.

The average return of U.S. equity mutual funds in the second quarter, a stunning 19.77%, was certainly welcome news, but it gave investors absolutely no reason to believe the stock market was turning around. After all, what fundamentals were there?