Portfolio

PALM DESERT, Calif. - The United States is determined to show the world it is leading global economic recovery efforts, even if that means creating what some in the industry view as risky new risk regulators.

PALM DESERT, Calif. - Having exhausted their multimillion-dollar, class-action claims against big tobacco companies, the nation's top trial lawyers are now turning their attention to the mutual fund industry.

Envestnet and Nationwide are partnering to offer financial advisers an array of retirement income products, namely annuities.

Because of the havoc that 2008 wreaked on so many investors’ portfolios, 46% of the 468 diversified U.S. equity funds that have had the same manager for the past decade, have negative returns for the 10 years ended Feb. 28, The Wall Street Journal reports. By comparison, the S&P 500 fell 3.4% on average over the past 10 years.

Conservative offerings and more focused customer attention will be the tenants of the fund industry going forward, according to speakers at the recent “Future of Fund Management” conference in London.

Bank of America is merging its premier banking into Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management, and as a result, several hundred people will lose their jobs.

Bond funds took in $5.64 billion but stock funds lost $232 million in the week ended March 18, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Morningstar is now offering information on fund flows and market share to its institutional clients through its Morningstar Direct platform.

Federated’s assets rose 31% in the final five months of 2008, from $271.1 billion on June 30 to $355.7 billion at year’s end. During the whole year, the firm’s money market funds took in $110 billion.

Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro vowed to impose stricter regulations on a broad array of securities and practices, including money market funds, whose holdings would adhere to stricter credit quality, maturity and liquidity standards.