Portfolio

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is considering a bill that would require mutual funds, pension plans and other large institutional investors to publicly reveal how they vote their proxies, to impose proper corporate governance on otherwise passive investors who, seemingly, don't vote in the fiduciary interest of their end investors.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup said that a 2007 e-mail that a Charles Schwab managing director wrote could prove to be a “mea culpa smoking gun” since the executive says Schwab should tell investors it misrepresented risks in the short-term bond fund.

Charles Schwab has begun offering investors six professionally managed portfolios that have access to 24 exchange-traded funds, each portfolio with an investment minimum of $100,000. The Schwab Managed Portfolios will invest in up to 19 core sub-asset classes and offer diversification across all the major equity and fixed income asset classes, including TIPs, real estate and commodities.

Earnings seasons continue as worries rise over interest rates and some say now is the time to hedge. Commentary from Asset Dedication, JPMorgan Funds, Bank of New York Mellon and Research Affiliates.

Sun Life Financial is readying a national marketing campaign to raise its profile, and to underscore the effort, has just signed a multi-year agreement with the Miami Dolphins to rename the team’s Miami Gardens, Fla., stadium the Sun Life Stadium.

Lord, Abbett has reduced the net expense ratios on two of its international funds by 31 and 23 basis points, bringing the Class A charges both the $949 million Lord, Abbett International Core Equity Fund and the $325 million Lord, Abbett International Dividend Fund to 1.12%. The two funds are now lower than the averages in both their Morningstar and Lipper peer groups.

In 2009, 425 mutual funds were either closed or merged out of existence, up nearly three-fold from the 145 funds that ceased to exist in 2008, according to Lipper.

Some of these trusts are goal-based and some are dollar-based.

Evercore also launched a new website Monday.

More than 20% of hedge funds have been shut down in the past two years, as 1,500 funds were liquidated.