Portfolio

By Brian Bono, CFA, Senior Investment Analyst, Brinker Capital, and Noreen Beaman, CPA, EVP, Strategic Planning, Brinker Capital

Whether it's protection of their own investments or a sense of responsibility to the world, there is an intriguing, if not unexpected, movement developing among mutual fund investors.

The hedge fund industry will consolidate through mergers and acquisitions, as the funds continue to proliferate and gain popularity among institutional investors, experts predict.

With the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting a record level of 13,000 in recent weeks, and three of the Russell U.S. equity Indexes, the Russell 1000, 2000 and 3000, also blasting through their previous ceilings in April, are investors worried the U.S. stock market has no place to go but down?

Whether it's protection of their own investments or a sense of responsibility to the world, there is an intriguing, if not unexpected, movement developing among mutual fund investors.

Vanguard Planning Launch Of Active Bond ETF

NEW YORK-As volatility in the market increases, large-cap funds will come into favor, the global economy will continue to post favorable returns and the energy sector will still offer investing opportunities. This was the general market outlook for this year by presenters at the Lipper Leaders fund event here last week.

Financial markets firms have consistently earned more than the average company over the last decade, by a large margin, through innovation and value add. What's in store for the next decade? Suzanne Dence, a managing consultant with IBM, and Peter Poulin, global head of administration and accounting at Brown Brothers Harriman, explore this topic.

WisdomTree Investments, an exchange-traded fund firm started nine months ago, is gearing up to enter the retirement market. The New York firm has assets of $3.2 billion in its 36 ETFs, and it plans to make the funds available to the 401(k) marketplace shortly, said Al Shemtob, its director of retirement services.

In their zeal to cash in on the latest investment craze, fund companies all too often have displayed a lack of originality and bad timing when launching new funds. Since exchange-traded funds have taken all of the major indexes, those that have come late to the ETF rage have come out with incredibly narrow niche and enhanced index funds that defy logic.