Portfolio

It's the year's hottest initial public offering, but some wealth managers find themselves having a hard time recommending Facebook to their clients.

The performance benchmark for stocks in developing countries, the MSCI Emerging Market Index, has grown at almost 21% annually over the past three years.

Morningstar research finds that 50 mutual funds have stakes in either the A class or B class of Facebook. Among the largest holders are T. Rowe Price, Fidelity Investments and Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley also is the lead underwriter in the offering, which is expected to raise at least $5 billion and possibly as much as $10 billion.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch said that it saw increased 401(k) savings through its plan sponsors both in the fourth quarter and 2011 year, signaling a positive outlook for the tweaks it has made to its offerings and confidence in the overall economy.

FINRA arbitration panel has ordered Merrill Lynch to pay an investor $1.4 million in a case that called into question the value of the collateralized loan obligation investments the firm sold.

Investment bank Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group has launched DirectMarkets, a first-of-its-kind platform that directly links stock issuers with investors, in primary offerings of securities.

Alternative assets. Alternative styles. Absolute return. Those are the three bases of John Hancock Mutual Funds newly launched effort to set itself apart as, in itself, an alternative to larger mutual fund creators, marketers and managers.

For a brief moment last year, the exchange-traded fund held in greatest value by investors had nothing to do with the Standard and Poor's 500. Or stocks of publicly traded companies of any sort.

Bullion is big. ETFs are convenient. Since its inception in November 2004, the average annual return of State Street Gold Shares has been 18.72%. By comparison, the S&P 500 has returned half of 1% a year in that time.

Prudential Retirement is now offering J.P. Morgan SmartRetirement Target Date Strategies and Fidelity VIP (Variable Insurance Product) Freedom Funds in its line-up of target-date funds with a guaranteed lifetime income component.