Portfolio

The $4.5 billion U.S. Natural Gas Fund, an exchange-traded fund, may have an investment mandate for the U.S., but regulators’ crackdown on speculation is forcing the fund to look overseas, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Although actively managing Treasuries has always proven difficult, PIMCO is making the case for actively managed TIPS funds, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Fidelity Investments has partnered with an afterschool program, Building Educated Leaders for Life, to bring the “Stock Market 101” curriculum to middle-school students in the Boston area this summer. It will educate sixth- and seventh-graders about the stock market and the economy to help them learn about the value of investing and, perhaps, encourage some to enter the asset management industry.

The nascent mutual fund industry in India is poised for tremendous growth averaging 29% a year over the next five years, Celent predicts. Driving the growth will be low retail penetration, high household savings rate and increasing interest among foreign asset managers to serve the market.

PMC, the investment management arm of Envestnet, announced the launch of a new tax overlay service Thursday that will allow advisers to minimize tax liabilities on their clients’ portfolios.

As employers regain confidence, they plan to lift freezes on salaries, benefits and 401(k) matches, according to a series of reports.

Despite the turmoil in the financial services industry, some mutual funds that specialize in the sector have not only outperformed their benchmark but have delivered double-digit returns, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Investors dropped almost $44 billion into open-end mutual funds in July, bringing the year-to-date total for inflows to $171 billion, according to data released by Morningstar. Taxable bond funds were the overwhelming favorite, taking 59%, or $26 billion of July’s proceeds.

Since the market meltdown at the end of 2007, 51% of investors think about their finances every day, whereas before, only 27% did, Charles Schwab found in a survey.

The average 401(k) account balance rose 13.5% in the second quarter to $53,900, which was perhaps behind the trend for more investors to increase their deferral savings rate than to decrease it, Fidelity Investments reports.