Portfolio

Vanguard has introduced a new, broad market bond fund to be used exclusively by its Target Retirement and LifeStrategy families. The Vanguard Total Bond Market II Index Fund will be benchmarked against the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index and is a clone of the $65 billion Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund.

Already, many believe that there is a killing to be made in underpriced mortgage-backed securities. Evidently, one of those investors is PowerShares Capital Management, which has filed two actively managed exchange-traded funds with the SEC. The funds will invest in both prime and alt-a mortgages, but not sub-prime mortgages.

Following the sharp market downturn last year and steep investor redemption, Legg Mason is about to overhaul its entire mutual fund lineup of 142 funds, Matthew Schiffman, head of product and marketing at Legg Mason told The Baltimore Sun. And it’s no wonder, since Schiffman accepted the new position at Legg Mason in November, with the goal of creating a product innovation team.

Baron Appoints Jacobs Chief Distribution Officer

401(k)-Affiliated Advisers May Offer Advice: DOL

BlackRock reported an 84% decline in fourth-quarter income, to $53 million, and full-year 2008 net income of $786 million, a 21% decline. Assets under management only declined negligibly, however, by 3.7% to $1.3 trillion.

Fidelity, Franklin, Legg Mason Suffer Largest Redemptions in 2008

If money managers want to invest in this highly volatile, largely negative financial environment, they must change the way they invest.

Mistakes, bad luck and unexpected events can happen to any firm during good times and bad, but tackling misfortune in a forthright, brutally honest manner rather than trying to sidestep unpleasant truths can mean the difference between a small crisis and a full-blown public relations nightmare.

Fair value reporting seemed anything but fair last October when prices fell off a cliff.