Portfolio

Offshoring functions save companies millions of dollars a year, and as the practice matures, financial institutions are moving to the next stage of optimizing their offshoring operations, according to Deloitte & Touche's fourth "Global Financial Services Offshoring" report, based on interviews with 36 financial institutions in eight countries.

An intended class-action lawsuit filed in Illinois in mid-May has the potential to challenge how all state Treasury offices apply tax deductions for contributions to in-state, versus out-of-state, 529 college savings plans.

Score one for the mutual fund industry.

NEW YORK-Including exchange-traded funds in defined contribution platforms isn't just a good idea for plan sponsors, it's darn close to a fiduciary duty, said panelists at a recent ETF summit held here.

Score one for the mutual fund industry.

SEC Judge Dismisses Late-Trading Case Against Former J.B. Oxford Lawyer

NEW YORK-As unified managed accounts become more well known among investors and financial advisers, firms creating them are faced with questions of what functions to outsource, along with related technology issues and compliance rules, according to panelists at Financial Research Associates' "Unified Managed Account" conference here last week.

At the beginning of this year, Barclays Global Advisors was the only investment management company with a bond exchange-traded fund. Today, however, there are nearly two dozen fixed-income ETFs from the likes of State Street Global Advisors and Vanguard, with more on the way from Bear Stearns and Ameristock.

The markets have gone global, and U.S. regulators ought to catch up if they want keep American exchanges competitive, allowing investors, particularly institutional, greater access, said participants during a roundtable discussion hosted by the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington last week.

Even if the Securities and Exchange Commission were to eliminate all restrictions on cross-border trading, retail investors' best bet for access to foreign markets might still be the good-old mutual fund, said panelists during a roundtable discussion in Washington last week hosted by the Securities and Exchange Commission.