Portfolio

With a little cooperation, 403(b) retirement plans for educational and governmental workers can move even closer to resembling their 401(k) counterparts, become more streamlined and boost participation, but first, industry participants will need to agree on best practices for the plans that will help everyone speak the same language.

The commissioners and staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission have been working around the clock, looking for ways to refine and improve regulations in the aftermath of one of the worst recessions in history, but this important work takes a delicate touch. Changes to one area could have unexpected ramifications to other areas, and every move must be planned with care and consideration.

Seventy-three percent of Baby Boomers who own a traditional IRA are not planning to convert it to a Roth IRA in 2010, when the previous household income limit of $100,000 will be eliminated, USAA Wealth Management found in a survey. Any investor who converts in 2010 will have two years to pay the taxes.

Hedge funds delivered an average of 2.5% in July and are up 9.9% year-to-date, the best performance in 11 years, according to the Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Fund Index.

Vanguard is limiting new purchases and not accepting new accounts for the Primecap Core Fund and two related funds, Primecap and Capital Opportunity.

The Jones v. Harris Associates fund fee case pending before the Supreme Court could very well be found in favor of investors, and if so, that could have tremendous ramifications for the 53 million American households that own mutual funds, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The wealthy are still giving despite the economic downturn, according to a study by Barclay’s wealth and luxury market consultant Ledbury Research. The study queried 300 Americans and 200 British with an average of $5.4 million in investable assets and found that the wealthy were much more willing to give up luxury goods, staff, eating out, holidays and travel before they would stop giving to charity. Only their children’s education ranked higher than charitable giving when they were asked what they would give up if the downturn proves more protracted.

Jackson National Life reported a record $3.4 billion in retail sales and deposits in the second quarter. In the first half of the year, sales and deposits totaled $6.1 billion, up 3% from the first half of 2008.

With mortgage-backed securities regaining value, PIMCO’s benchmark $169 billion Total Return Fund has been trimming its exposure to this sector, Dow Jones reports. The fund’s holdings of mortgage-backed securities fell to 47% in July, only slightly more than its 42% exposure in April 2007, and down considerably from a peak of 86% in February.

Money market mutual fund assets fell $12.83 billion in the week ended Aug. 12, with the bulk of the redemptions coming from retail investors, the Investment Company Institute said.