Portfolio

MFS told 90 people, 5% of its workforce of 1,800, they were being laid off on Thursday, Investment News reports.

With sales plummeting in the U.K., Fidelity International is preparing to lay off 300 people, or 14% of its staff of 2,100, The Evening Standard reports.

Investors withdrew $40 billion of assets from hedge funds in October, Dow Jones reports. Coupled with a $115 billion decline in holdings during the month, the $155 billion hit was the worst one-month decline in assets on record with Hedge Fund Research. By comparison, hedge funds lost $210 billion in the third quarter.

Advocating a sort of clean slate for all investors in 401(k) plans, Vanguard issued a report Thursday suggesting that all plan sponsors reenroll participants into qualified default investment alternatives (QDIAs).

There has been a dramatic shift in loyalty among affluent investors toward investment firms, according to a survey of 4,000 people by Cogent Research.

In a widely anticipated move Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission unanimously approved a requirement for mutual funds to send investors a short-form, summary prospectus.

Reserve Funds has hired Joseph T. Monagle, Jr. to help the firm sell positions in a difficult debt and credit market.

Because it takes about six months to a year for executive search firms to catch up with the general labor market, a number of recruiters that specialize in financial services are likely to cut their staffs early next year, Dow Jones reports.

While it’s true that many hedge fund investors are planning to redeem billions of dollars, the danger of those redemptions further roiling the markets is low, HedgeWorld News reports.

Hoping to capitalize on the continued popularity of exchange-traded funds even as the markets continue to tank, Barclays Global Investors has introduced a suite of target-date ETFs for 401(k)s.