Portfolio

National Financial has enhanced its brokerage platform, Streetscape, with wealth management tools and Thomson ONE market data. The platform previously offered only account, trading and risk management capabilities.

Total assets of money market mutual funds climbed $4.36 billion to reach $3.668 trillion for the week ending July 8, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Despite the volatile markets of late 2008 and early 2009, investor participation remains fairly stable, according to a review of retirement markets by Dublin-based Research and Markets.

After only two years as president of Fidelity Investments, Rodger Lawson may be looking for a new job soon, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Hedge funds experienced their best six months during the first half of this year since 1999, according to Hennessee Group, a hedge fund advisory firm. The Hennessee Hedge Fund Index rose 11.74% through June 2009, second only to gains of 14.81% a decade ago.

Alternative investment manager Hattaras Funds has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling interest in Alternative Investment Partners, which offers a line of open-end hedge funds-of-funds called AIP Mutual Funds.

MainStay Investments has adopted the mutual fund family of Epoch Investment Partners, which consists of four funds with $750 million under management, and will become the primary distributor of Epoch’s separately managed accounts.

The Treasury Department tapped nine fund managers, including five mutual fund companies as well as private equity and hedge funds, to help implement its Public-Private Investment Program, established to address legacy real estate assets.

Whereas in previous recessions, companies that suspended 401(k) matches always brought them back, this time around, consultants to defined contribution plans tell the Associated Press, companies are thinking about doing away with the matches forever or reducing them drastically from the typical 50 cents match for the first 6% an employee puts in.

Institutional investors are looking for better risk models for investments and overall management, Northern Trust found. Ninety percent of those surveyed rated risk as an “important” or “primary” consideration in their decision making.