Portfolio

T. Rowe Price’s first-quarter earnings fell 68% to $48.2 million, or 19 cents a share, from $151.5 million, or 55 cents a share, in the first quarter of 2008. Revenue fell 31% to $384.5 million, down from $559.1 million.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. is allowing non-U.S. financial firms to take advantage of the access, low costs and risk-management protection of its Mutual Fund Services, including Fund/SERV. It is the first time that DTCC has opened up these services to non-U.S. firms.

Although the number of Americans pessimistic about the economy in April was 49%, according to a Harris Interactive poll, it was slightly improved from the 54% who were pessimistic in April 2008.

The Morningstar 1000 Hedge Fund Index fell 0.1% in the first quarter, and the Morningstar MSCI Asset-Weighted Hedge Fund Composite Index rose 0.5%.

The House Education & Labor Committee has introduced the Fair Disclosure for Retirement Security Act of 2009, which would require 401(k) plans to clearly state all fees with the aim of helping workers shop around for the best retirement options.

Seventy-five percent of employees at companies that have had layoffs, furloughs, suspended 401(k) matches or that have taken other cost-cutting measures, have faith their employer is taking the right action to strengthen the company, according to a Zoomerang survey for iDashboards.

More small private foundations are dissolving and moving their assets into low-cost, flexible donor-advised funds, sometimes called charitable funds, run by mutual fund companies, The Wall Street Journal reports.

JennisonDryden has reopened the Jennison Health Sciences Fund to new investors, having closed it in July 2005. JennisonDryden is the proprietary fund family of Prudential Financial.

President Obama and Congress are both committed to finding new energy sources, and as such, alternative energy and infrastructure will be dominant investment themes of 2010, according to Calvert Investments and KBC Asset Management International.

BlackRock’s first quarter earnings fell 24% to $84 million, or 62 cents per diluted common share. Operating income was $271 million and operating margin was 27.5%.