Portfolio

Municipal bond exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have gone from zero to 60 miles per hour in just a few days. And the race continues.

Lifecycle funds are now taking another punch, and while this one may not be fully merited, it is one that fund companies might want to consider as a roadmap to improving such funds' performance and marketability.

Executives Protest Raising Hedge Funds' Taxes

Parents certainly are aware of the need to save for children's college education, but not all are stashing away money in appropriate investment vehicles, such as 529s that are tax-free.

District Court Orders Market Timer to Pay $500k

The "Show Me" State of Missouri is about to show the 529 college savings plan marketplace just how innovative it can be.

The Department of Labor estimates that automatic enrollment in 401(k) plans, as protected under the Pension Protection Act, will add between $45 billion to $90 billion a year to the plans, which had $3.6 trillion in assets under management in 2006, according to the Investment Company Institute.

So-called target-date and target-risk asset allocation funds portend to make investing easier for 401(k) participants, but the proliferation of these products in recent years can make choosing which to offer a headache for sponsors.

Competition, if nothing else, keeps companies constantly looking for the next innovative product or strategy that will bring more assets to their firm. That is why many asset management firms are choosing to offer the increasingly popular 130/30 strategies as the benefits of shorting stocks can outweigh the benefits of going long, according to the report "130/30: From Rationale to Implementation" by New York-based Merrill Lynch.

The Department of Labor estimates that automatic enrollment in 401(k) plans, as protected under the Pension Protection Act, will add between $45 billion to $90 billion a year to the plans, which had $3.6 trillion in assets under management in 2006, according to the Investment Company Institute.