Portfolio

BlackRock is reportedly the lead bidder for Barclays’ fund unit, and could pay more than $12 billion for the company, which has $1.5 trillion under management. BlackRock manages $2.81 trillion.

Grail Advisors is planning to offer four actively managed exchange-traded funds that will the first to use a single-manager approach.

IndexIQ has introduced an exchange-traded fund that will seek to replicate global macro and emerging markets hedge fund strategies.

The White House’s earlier plan to merge many of the regulators overseeing the financial services industry is likely to be scrapped, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Wells Fargo, parent of the Evergreen mutual funds, has agreed to pay $40 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges it inflated the value of mortgage-backed securities held by one of its mutual funds, the Ultra Short Opportunities Fund.

As part of an increasing trend among mutual fund companies to diversify their offerings into new areas, Putnam Investments is planning to offer hedge funds in the next six to 12 months, according to the firm’s chief executive officer, Robert L. Reynolds.

Hedge funds posted their best monthly performance in nine years, with the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index rising 5.2% in May, Hedge Fund Research indicated.

Citing the positive effects of diversification and continued contributions, Vanguard announced that the median decline in the three million defined contribution accounts it administers fell 17% in the 15 months ended March 31, as opposed to the market’s overall 44% decline.

Fidelity Investments and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts jointly announced Monday that the two firms have struck an agreement whereby the Boston-based mutual fund company's customers will be to access the initial public offerings and secondary stock sales of KKR portfolio companies.

Fidelity Investments’ chief of technology and real estate operations, Marvin Adams, will be leaving the company, according to reports.