Investment insights

Mitt Romney “has the momentum and nothing last night happened to change that,” said Charles Black, a Romney campaign advisor at the SIFMA annual meeting in New York.

Wall Street may still be in love with complex financial instruments, but more and more investors are choosing a simpler, more prudent way to invest, and Steve Atkinson explain that that is why the assets under management with independent wealth advisors continues to grow.

There are thousands of hedge funds competing in the marketplace. They come in all shapes and sizes, but all too often they approach investors with the same thesis.

Despite the worldwide market turmoil of recent years, U.S. investors have been boosting their allocation to overseas funds, but need more education from advisors to battle a serious overweight in U.S. stocks, according to a new white paper.

Asset allocation isn’t just about performance, it’s all about the client, advisors said in a panel discussion at the Money Management Institute Fall Solutions conference Thursday.

Could the 2012 holiday shopping season be the best one since the recession? Planners seeking clues to the performance of the U.S. retail sector should consider an industry group’s projection that sales for the November-December time period will increase 4.1% this year.

Macroeconomic factors like advances in technology and global population growth, not to mention market volatility and investor fear, are accelerating the need for financial advice said Marty Flanagan, president and CEO of Invesco, at the Money Management Institute 2012 Fall Solutions Conference on Wednesday.

Cantor Fitzgerald, a New York global financial services firm, announced Wednesday it hired Theresa Mozzocci as head of marketing and sales for its investment advisory arm.

It’s a conflicted time for American investors who are both worried about their preparedness for retirement but also terrifically gun shy about taking on new risk to help pay for it, according to a new study of 702 U.S. residents who range in age from 18 to 67.

BlackRock Inc., the world’s biggest money manager, reported third-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates as exchange-traded funds drew client deposits and assets rose.

With an eye toward the future and likely also toward steering the Facebook generation toward its own website, Fidelity Investments launched a new app for Facebook, called FutureTimeline, which allows users to set long-term financial goals and track their savings toward shorter-term goals, like vacations or buying a new car.

Natixis Global Asset Management, S.A. today acquired fixed-income asset manager McDonnell Investment Management, LLC.

Neuberger Berman is bringing value investment management shop Glickenhaus & Co. and its $900 million in client assets for high net worth individuals and non-profit institutions into its fold.

For planners seeking clues into U.S. consumer behavior this shopping season, a new survey detects optimism for both retailers and consumers, 62% of whom said they will spend as much or more as they did last holiday season.

PerTrac, a provider of analytics, reporting and communications software for investment professionals, released a new report this week detailing the success of hedge funds during years in which the entire sector posted negative performance results.

Market participants should be wary of threats to tax-exempt bonds, but the politically-charged atmosphere in Washington, D.C. raises doubts about the ability of Congress to pass comprehensive tax reform legislation, lobbyists and others said Friday.

Most people, not just those earning more than $200,000 a year, probably will be paying more in taxes next year, says Lancaster, Penn.-based planner and retirement specialist Rick Rodgers. The good news is clients still have time to take advantage of 2012 tax rates, which may turn out to be the lowest available for some time. Rodgers offers three strategies that can be implemented before the end of the year:

If Congress allows Bush-era tax cuts to expire next year, as many expect, planners everywhere must be aware of the “fiscal cliff” their clients will confront.

Wall Street executives show a more conservative outlook toward their investments, but a majority still avoid a financial advisor.

More than one-third of the nation’s largest pension plans and institutional investors believe that traditional investing approaches will not be effective in 10 years.