S&P

Although bigger may be better for the fund giants, passive strategies may be blurring the inherent value of securities.

Improved prospects for tax legislation propelled the latest boost in equities.

Some fund managers specializing in distressed debt smell an opportunity.

Plans from S&P and MSCI to recategorize internet and media stocks would blend some of the year’s best-performing equities with the worst.

The longer the trend continues, the more likely its effects could spread to bank earnings and the economy.

“People need to know what the rules are,” an industry consultant says.

The delay was partly prompted by BlackRock’s testimony that policymakers, not index compilers, should set corporate governance standards.

Managers are asking the SEC to relax constraints it imposed on the funds as they become the fastest growing products for investing in equities.

The holdings in each of the three new offerings are rated A to BBB.

Nearly 17 million investors will use the technology by 2021, a rise of 1.8 million compared to last year, Aite says.