Portfolio

Although Barclays Global Investors runs $301 billion in exchange-traded fund money through 137 funds- commanding a 60% share of the $500 billion ETF market-Vanguard and State Street are launching new products and marketing campaigns to catch up, Reuters reports.

The first of a new wave of 130/30 long/short mutual funds are hitting the mainstream investment landscape. They are taking their cue from the institutional arena where 130/30 strategies have been a scorching hot commodity and are rolling out to clients at a record pace.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-In the race to capture rollover retirement assets, retail banks have been somewhat of a sleeping giant.

Securities America Fined For Directed Brokerage

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-Retirees and their broker/dealers have one thing in common: they both want advice.

Recently, the National Bureau of Economic Research issued a report debunking the theory that as the 77 million Baby Boomers begin to turn 65 in 2011 and cash out of their stock and bond holdings, the markets will spiral into a bear market. The bureau's argument is that 401(k) assets currently represent only a small fraction of people's retirement portfolios, and as 401(k)s continue to grow markedly in coming years, the influx of new investments will buoy the markets.

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards has raised the ethical standard guidelines for the 55,000 planners in the nation with CFP credentials, in order for investors to get better help in selecting among increasingly complex financial choices.

Increased disclosure and transparency of hedge funds, and investors who have pension funds invested in them, were at the forefront of a House Financial Services Committee hearing last week on whether hedge funds pose a systemic risk to the market.

Recently, the National Bureau of Economic Research issued a report debunking the theory that as the 77 million Baby Boomers begin to turn 65 in 2011 and cash out of their stock and bond holdings, the markets will spiral into a bear market. The bureau's argument is that 401(k) assets currently represent only a small fraction of people's retirement portfolios, and as 401(k)s continue to grow markedly in coming years, the influx of new investments will buoy the markets.

Hedge fund companies Haidar Capital Management and Haidar Capital Advisors, along with their owner, Said Haidar, have settled mutual fund trading charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission with a fine of $4.58 million. Haidar and his companies, however, neither admitted to nor denied the charges.