Portfolio

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.

Stable-value funds, available in such tax-deferred accounts as 401(k)s, have been attracting a lot of attention lately, having returned 4.7% in 2008, compared to the Dow’s 33.8% decline, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Hit with $3.2 billion in redemptions in the first quarter, an 11% reduction in assets under management, Man Group said it plans to reduce its headcount by 15%, or approximately 270 positions, to save $60 million a year.