Portfolio

Broker-dealers had better be prepared to handle some tough questions on their procedures and controls to mitigate risk and can no longer pass the burdens of meeting SEC requirements to junior managers.

Most people don’t think about it, but there is a liquidity premium on publicly traded securities just as there is a risk premium, yet most only think about it in the case of extremely illiquid assets such as private equity.

Financial advisors at U.S. banks raked in an average of $27,809 in commission and fees in December, up modestly from an average of $27,418 in November thanks mainly to widening spreads between fixed annuities and certificate of deposit rates.

67% are overweight the asset class, according to the BoA Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers.

Planning for retirement isn’t just about hitting the “magic number.”

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index rose 0.1% in January to 112.3, following a 0.8% rise in December and a 1.1% increase in November.

Global X Funds has launched the Global X FTSE ASEAN 40 ETF, which targets the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, comprised of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. The fund tracks the FTSE/ASEAN 40 Index.

Fund managers are the most bullish they have been on global equities they have been in a decade, with 67% overweight the asset class, according to the February BoA Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers, which surveyed 188 fund managers with total assets of $569 billion under management. This is up from 55% in January and 40% in December.

The platform, which offers products from Axa, Allianz, Lincoln Financial, Prudential and Sun Life, enables discretionary management of variable annuity assets.

Annuities sold through banks hit a rough patch last year, but 2011 looks brighter as interest rates begin to rise and the Dow Jones Industrial Average continues to improve.