Portfolio

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.

In November, analyst consensus was that the S&P 500 would decline 17% for 2008 but rebound by 30% this year, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Hedge funds with $100 million or less in assets underperformed hedge fund giants for the first time since 1996, PerTrac Financial Solutions found.

For the 10th straight week in a row, mutual funds took in inflows, the Investment Company Institute revealed. However, the flows tapered off to $9.69 billion for the week ended May 20.

European Union Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy is expected to propose uniform new rules regarding depositories for undertakings in collective investments in transferable securities (UCITs), the European Commission’s version of mutual funds.

Citing in-house investment expertise, New York’s pension plan appears to be trailblazing the way for other pensions to feel confident investing directly in hedge funds, not through funds-of-funds, Dow Jones reports. A year ago, New York’s state pension fund had $5 billion invested in hedge funds-of-funds. Today, at $500 million, that’s a mere shadow of its former self.

The Connecticut state Senate passed a bill to require more disclosure and transparency of hedge funds, private equity firms and venture capitalists. It would also require the investment firms to disclose conflicts of interest to investors.

The seven largest fund houses in Boston saw assets under management surge 8% in April, boosted by a revival in the stock and bond markets and renewed faith by investors, who poured $42.1 billion into the funds during the month, the Boston Business Journal reports. The previous month, investors withdrew $6.3 billion.

The Internal Revenue Service has proposed new rules that would grant safe harbor for employers experiencing substantial business hardship that want to suspend or reduce their 401(k) matches.

Quantitative modeling took a tremendous hit during the credit crisis, and investors who favored such systematic investment strategies are, once again, favoring active stock pickers, The Wall Street Journal reports.