Portfolio

After several failed attempts, the Securities and Exchange Commission is again revisiting the contentious debate on shareholder proxy voting.

Vanguard Group has just announced it will lower its costs for the 19 investment options in the Vanguard 529 College Savings Plan sponsored by the state of Nevada by an average of 12%.

How far the 401(k) has come since employers first introduced the savings plan in 1981. And how far it has yet to go. 401(k)s, I predict, will become universal in our lifetimes, supplanting all forms of pension plans.

Less than two years ago, investment managers were scrambling to launch their own 130/30 funds, but interest has cooled significantly after these funds largely failed to perform in the recession.

Bond giant Pacific Investment Management Co. is preparing to launch its first exchange-traded fund, according to government filings.

Money market mutual funds regained $15.45 billion in assets as institutional investors continued to seek safety in these products. Total money fund assets were at $3.789 trillion for the week ending May 27, according to the Investment Company Institute.

The U.S. economy will begin to recover by the end of the year but unemployment is another matter, fund managers speaking at the Morningstar conference said.

With investment banking earnings set to improve this year, many executives will, despite government intervention, get bigger bonuses this year, according to compensation consultant Johnson Associates.

Persistent withdrawals brought Man Group’s revenues for fiscal year ended March 31 down by 22.8% to $2.49 billion and net profits down 85% to $503 million from $3.47 billion a year earlier.

Citing the vast disparity in the performance of target-date funds, Morningstar by year-end will begin rating and researching target-date funds to make them more transparent and more easily comparable, for professional and retail investors alike, the research firm announced Thursday.