Special Program Root Tag

As a client takes distributions, a money manager ultimately becomes more important than asset allocation as the sequence and volatility of market returns rises.

Here is to wishes for a successful New Year for those in the asset management industry and the investors it serves.

Three mutual funds that might do well next year all have one thing in common: they weren’t chosen because they were the absolute top performers in 2011. Instead, they were chosen on the basis of diversification, strong performance, level of risk and cost basis, said S&P Capital IQ mutual fund analyst Todd Rosenbluth.

Volatility, the fear of a second worldwide recession, continued aversion to equity funds and uncertainty over Dodd-Frank regulatory fallout—all headlined 2011.

It was a year of refashioning of regulatory rules, around the world. Not. Or, almost. Outages and technical snafus abounded. Definitely.

Only 30 stocks comprise the world’s most closely watched index – the Dow Jones Industrial Average – and its daily, weekly, monthly and annual gains (or losses) serve as a very handy – albeit simplistic – snapshot of investor sentiment and a decent barometer of how the U.S. and world economies are fairing.

BNY Mellon announced that it awarded more than $7.2 million to New York-area nonprofits in 2011.

U.S. homes are expected to lose more than $681 billion in value during 2011—and while that sounds like a staggering figure, it is 35% less than the $1.1 trillion lost in 2010, Zillow Real Estate Market Reports said.

Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext have decided to push back the deadline for completing their merger until March 31.

Credit Suisse Securities has been fined $1.75 million by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for failing to properly supervise short-selling activity.

Beginning Jan. 1, U.S. Savings Bonds will be going digital, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said. This will save taxpayers $120 million over the next five years, Treasury said.

As 2011 draws to a close, many investors are continuing to seek safety, TrimTabs Investment Research said Wednesday. They are socking most of their money into bank savings accounts and bond funds.

Aston Asset Management has launched the Aston/Silvercrest Small Cap Fund, sub-advised by Silvercrest Asset management Group, a high-quality, value-oriented boutique headquartered in New York.

Knight Capital Group has launched two actively managed exchange-traded funds run by subsidiary Astor Asset Management. The funds are the Astor Active Income ETF Fund and the Astor SP Growth ETF Fund.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index rose 9.3 points in December to 64.5 (1985 = 100), following a 14.3-point rise in November, The Conference Board said Tuesday.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index rose 0.5% in November to 118.0 (2004 = 100), following a 0.9% rise in October and a 0.1% bump in September.

Federated Investors has reached an agreement to acquire Prime Rate Capital Management of London, a specialist in cash management and fixed income products. The company also has a family of UCITS, including the Prime Rate Sterling Liquidity Fund, Prime Rate Euro Liquidity Fund and Prime Rate U.S. Dollar Liquidity Fund.

Don’t rule out emerging market and high-end retail customers in 2012, according to a forward-looking analysis by Fidelity Investments’ Sector Portfolio managers. In coordinated press conferences this month, the managers pointed to numerous areas of growth they expect in the coming year.

With approval from the U.S. Justice Department in hand and approval from the European Commission still to be achieved, NYSE Euronext is looking for a period of relative quiet through the end of the year on its quest to merge with Deutsche Boerse.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has closed a loophole that previously allowed individuals to artificially inflate net worth before investing in unregistered securities offerings. Advisers are generally supportive of the change.