Portfolio

A number of large fund companies slashed their advertising budgets by as much as 50% in the third quarter, according to data from Nielsen Monitor-Plus and FRC.

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin filed an administrative proceeding Tuesday against Reserve Funds and its founder Bruce Bent, accusing them of lying to investors about the dire straights of their investments in Lehman Brothers.

Long-only commodities mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded notes are, once again, attracting billions of assets, after losing money throughout 2008, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The average U.S. stock fund plummeted 37.9% in 2008, slightly worse than the Dow Jones Industrial Average's 33.8% loss. It was the Dow's worst year since 1931, when it declined by more than 50%. Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 37%, its worst performance since 1937.

Fidelity Hires Cieszko as Institutional Services Chief

Best-Performing Managers Played it Safe in 2008

Advisers Plan to Expand Client Base, Assets in 2009

Variable annuity sales sank in 2008 as the stock market's swoon scared investors off.

NEW YORK - Millions of aging Baby Boomers heeded the reassuring words of their financial advisers and remained heavily invested in equities throughout 2008, only to watch in shocked disbelief as 40% of their life savings disappeared.

Risk management will take on an increasingly important role this year as financial firms struggle to survive the fallout from last year's market mess.