Portfolio

The Hartford Financial Services Group has created a new division called Hartford Life Distributors in which all sales and marketing for both investment and retirement products will be handled. This includes all strategic relationship management and business development for mutual fund, annuities, 401(k) plans and 529s.

Lord Abbett has decided to exit the bundled small plan 401(k) business, effective Oct. 1, to instead focus on the defined contribution investment only market. Hartford Financial Services Group will manage the transition of approximately 8,000 plans, 59,000 participants and $1.2 billion in assets, and will waive any potential costs associated with the transfer.

Vanguard is migrating a dozen of its bond index mutual funds to benchmarks that better reflect market liquidity. Observers say the move represents the government’s unprecedented intervention in the bond markets, and will likely lead other fund companies to follow suit.

With half of all exchange-traded funds falling short of the $50 million minimum profitability mark, attracting capital will be key to remaining competitive and potentially challenging mutual funds’ dominant market share, according to a report from Deloitte.

Wholesale changes are in store for both pension and 401(k) plans, according to a survey of 140 financial executives by Prudential Financial and CFO Research Services.

Morningstar has unveiled the latest version of its research platform for investment professionals. Now, Morningstar Direct users can create fully customized reports, presentations and fact sheets using Morningstar data.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is extending a requirement under the Treasury Department’s money fund guarantee program that will have the funds reveal their holdings and valuation each week through Sept. 12, 2010, if their net asset value falls below $0.9975.

Putnam Investments has unveiled the industry’s first absolute-return target-date funds, which will combine both conventional investing strategies with absolute-return methods that seek to mitigate market volatility.

T. Rowe Price’s new website gives financial intermediaries faster, easier access to more in-depth data and industry news, according to the company. The new site Troweprice.com/fi, which replaced the firm’s old site, features three main navigation sections: funds, adviser resources and news and updates.

Inflows to certain types of mutual funds reached the highest levels of the year in the week ended Sept. 17, The Wall Street Journal reports, potentially as a sign of renewed investor confidence.