Portfolio

Vanguard is switching indexes for five of its funds today.

Mutual funds that invest in U.S. stocks had another strong week, picking up $3.5 billion. They have now picked up $16.1 billion in a three-week period, a strong start after 25 weeks of declines.

Lack of knowledge is the top reason for not using alternative investments followed by lack of track record, according to Cambridge, Mass.-based consulting firm Cogent Research. As popular of an investing tool as they have become, there are different theories about what role alternatives play in a portfolio as well as what actually constitutes an “alternative,” so it’s easy to understand why there could by some misunderstandings.

Stock funds took in an estimated $6.35 billion in inflows for the week that ended Jan. 23, down 31% from the $9.2 billion they took in a week earlier. Still, the inflow is almost twice as large as a year earlier.

First, there was the Great Recession.

The TCW/Carlye deal is drawing ever closer and new rumors of more potential defections from the bond shop continue to swirl.

Mutual funds increased their assets by $174.3 billion to $13.047 trillion in December, according to the Investment Company Institute.

One of Wasatch Advisors' investment managers has been added as a portfolio manager on a flagship fund.

Aristotle Capital Management is adding new talent to its team.

Institutional investors are expected to increase their use of exchange-traded funds and institutional demand for fixed income ETFs are expected to rise, according to new findings from iShares.