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Forty-two percent of workers are living paycheck to paycheck, down slightly from the 43% who were in this financial state in 2010, CareerBuilder found in a survey of 5,200 workers. This 42% level is at pre-recession levels, indicating that while incremental, household finances are improving.

The stock market may be reeling, the U.S. sovereign debt rating may have taken a hit from Standard & Poor’s and the Eurozone debt crisis may be worsening, but high-quality corporate bonds are looking like a great deal.

CFOs Expect Strong Earnings But Inflation Fears Abound: SurveyBy Larry BarrettAugust 10, 2011Chief financial officers in the U.S. and Europe are largely optimistic about sales and earnings for their individual companies through the rest of the year, but rising commodity prices and extreme volatility in the equities markets has most convinced inflation is on the rise and will likely hinder any substantial recovery in the overall economy.Like what you see? Click here to sign up for Financial Planning's daily newsletter to get the latest on advisor market trends, investment management, retirement planning, practice management, technology, compliance and new product development.The CFO Outlook survey, conducted last month by Financial Executives International and Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business, interviewed 228 corporate CFOs based in the U.S., 78 corporate CFOs from Italy and 44 CFOs from France.The survey found that while U.S. CFOs are slightly more optimistic than their European counterparts, concerns about the impact of raising the debt ceiling and the possibility of a double-dip recession are prompting most to extend their forecasts for the start of a U.S. economic recovery by more than a year to the second half of 2012 or beyond. The second quarter CFO Optimism Index for the global economy experienced a decline for U.S. CFOs from the previous quarter (61.70 to 59.40 in Q2), but remained higher than European CFOs, which also dipped (58.90 to 55.10 in Q2). U.S. CFOs’ optimism in their own companies remained consistent with the previous quarter (72), and demonstrated a higher level of confidence in their businesses than did European CFOs (down to 63.20 from Q1’s 66.10). However, the confidence among U.S. CFOs in the U.S. economy weakened. The index dropped five points from the previous quarter (59.00 from Q1’s 64.10) and dropped below their optimism for the global economy. Over the next 12 months, U.S. CFOs are forecasting a 21% increase in their net earnings, an 11% increase in revenue and a 15% increase in capital spending, while CFOs in Europe anticipate more modest increases in revenue and net earnings (6% each) and only a 4% increase in capital spending."Globally, CFOs continue to display caution. Inflation concerns and fears about the recovery may further delay new hiring and investing," John Elliott, Dean of the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College, said in the report. "While U.S. CFOs have high expectations for earnings growth and generally hold a more positive outlook than Europeans about the global economy and the future of their businesses, their declining confidence in the U.S. economy reflects uncertainly.""Decisions from Congressional leadership and the President will be especially significant for U.S. businesses in the coming months," he added.Mainly due to rising commodity prices, inflation levels continue to be a major area of concern for CFOs. When asked to rate their inflation concerns on a scale of one to five (with five being the highest level of concern), 70% of U.S. CFOs and 66% of European CFOs selected a three or higher. The report found that while more than half feel their level of concern was unchanged from last quarter, over a third of both U.S. CFOs (39%) and European CFOs (36%) expressed more concern this quarter.From a big-picture perspective, the survey discovered that because of these formidable macroeconomic obstacles, a relatively lower number of U.S. CFOs feel the U.S. is in the midst of, or drawing close to, a recovery. Twenty-seven percent of U.S. CFOs believe that a recovery has occurred, and more than half (55%) predict that a recovery will not take place until the second half of 2012 or beyond.For nearly half of U.S. CFOs (47%), a lowered U.S. unemployment rate was perceived to be the most telling indicator of an economic recovery, which is followed by a rising gross domestic product (GDP) (22%) and a rise in consumer spending (17%).

BNY Mellon to Cut 1,500, as Expenses Rise Faster than RevenuePrinter Friendly Email Reprints Reader Comments Share | August 10, 2011Tom Steinert-ThrelkeldBNY Mellon said Tuesday it planned to cut its work force by 3 percent or 1,500 positions, by year, as it sees expenses growing faster than revenue.Like what you see? Click here to sign up for Securities Technology Monitor's weekly newsletter to get the latest news and analysis that matters to the effective operation of capital markets.The cuts will come by year end, after a review by all businesses of the composition of its global workforce of 48,900, spokesman Kevin Heine said.The announcement of the cuts comes less than a month after the company posted solid earnings growth.The provider of asset servicing, issuer services, clearing services and other investment services reported second quarter net income of $735 million, up from $658 million a year ago and $625 million in the first quarter of 2011."Over recent quarters, BNY Mellon has succeeded in building positive revenue momentum. However, expenses have been growing unsustainably faster," said Robert P. Kelly, BNY Mellon chairman and chief executive officer.In the past year, revenue has grown 19.6 percent, to $3.1 billion in the second quarter of this year. But staff, professional, legal, software and other “noninterest” expenses have risen 21.2 percent (see chart).Jobs are not the only target for expense reductions. The company also expects to rationalize technology picked up in a series of acquisitions in recent years, most notably the $2.3 billion purchase of the Global Investment Servicing Business of PNC Financial Services Group.In the company’s second quarter earnings call last month, Chief Financial Officer Thomas Gibbons said:There is some low-lying fruit. I mean, if you think about it, we've gone through a number of acquisitions over the past 3 or 4 years. So when we go back and reflect on our technology infrastructure, there's quite a bit we can attack there. We've got too many desktop configurations just the nature of our business model, and we're going to go after that. We also have some applications dating back to the Mellon Bank of New York merger, which we think we can sunset too, and we also for the first time are really looking at combining some of our common operations not just within asset servicing, but even across some of our different businesses.BNY Mellon is not planning to offer any voluntary departure packages, Heine said. Instead the company will rely on “natural turnover” and an immediate hiring freeze to hit its job cuts target.The company also expects to reduce its use of temporary workers, consultants and contractors

WASHINGTON—Standard & Poor's downgrade of U.S. debt last week is likely to hasten the replacement of credit ratings within bank regulatory requirements.

Market volatility and an uneven path for the economic recovery are set to continue for years, according to Towers Watson. What’s more, all asset classes will face higher-than-average volatility, Towers Watson said.

Rather than offer the complete lineup of a target-date series in their 401(k) plan, sponsors are selecting only those funds that fit the age and demographics of their employees. This could result in under-funded target-date funds that could put the entire lineup in jeopardy, according to a new report, “Trends in Date-Date Portfolios on Recordkeeper Platforms,” from Financial Research Corp.

The August reading of the Consumer Reports Index fell to 43.3, its lowest level since December 2009. Falling 5.1 points from 48.5 in July, the index registered its sharpest drop in two years.

SEC Slaps Mutual Fund Trader for Accepting Gifts From BrokersPrinter Friendly Email Reprints Reader Comments Share | August 9, 2011Chris KentourisThe Securities and Exchange Commission has upheld an administrative judge’s ruling that a mutual fund trader must pay more than $200,000 in penalties for accepting gifts from broker-dealers to steer trades their way.Like what you see? Click here to sign up for Securities Technology Monitor's weekly newsletter to get the latest news and analysis that matters to the effective operation of capital markets.The regulator didn’t buy the trader’s excuse that the mutual funds weren’t harmed.The SEC said that Robert Burns, a former equity trader at FMR Co., violated the Investment Company Act of 1940 by accepting the compensation from brokerage firms. Burns had to disgorge about $141,000 and interest of $67,205. He must also pay a civil penalty of $40,000. FMR is a subsidiary of Fidelity Management and Research Company that manages the Fidelity Investments group of mutual funds.Burns, who was dismissed by FMR in December 2004, sent orders to more than fifty brokerage firms. Of those fifty about ten gave him thirty nine gifts such as wine, travel and tickets to concerts, sporting events and theater productions. The gifts, according to the SEC included tickets to the Wimbledon tennis finals in 2002, 2003 and 2004; a case of 1993 Château Pétrus Pomerol wine in December 2003; tickets to see Prince, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, and several other performers in concert; tickets to games involving the Boston Celtics, Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots and tickets to theater events including "The Lion King," "The Producers," "Avenue Q," and "Hairspray."Burns did not dispute that he received the gifts but insisted that they did not influence his decisions. He argued that the SEC failed to prove that any fund was harmed by paying a higher commission rate than otherwise available so he did not violate the Investment Company Act.However, the SEC countered that Burns had to prove that he did not violate his fiduciary duty. And even if he could do so, he would have to prove the gifts were unrelated to his role as an equity trader.“The record shows and Burns does not contest, that he accepted numerous gifts from multiple brokers to whom he directed and continued to direct securities transactions on behalf of mutual funds to which he, affiliated with the funds’ adviser, owed a fiduciary duty,” wrote the SEC in its ruling on August 5. “We therefore conclude that the division has made a prima facie showing that, in accepting these gifts, Burns’ interest conflicted with that of the investment companies he was advising.”The case involving Burns is the tip of the iceberg in charges filed by the SEC against Fidelity and several of its senior-ranking traders, over the alleged acceptance of bribes in exchange for steering business to select brokerages.Vincent Loporchio, a spokesman for Fidelity in Boston, said that his firm has taken steps to enhance its policies and procedures concerning conflicts of interest."We adopted additional written standards of conduct related to business entertainment and acceptance of gifts; expanded the role of our ethics office responsible for regulatory compliance and established a new level of management oversight for our trading department," he said.

BlackRock has added 10 index funds to its retirement platform, nine of them the target-date BlackRock LifePath Index Portfolios and the 10ths the All Country World Index ex-U.S. Fund. The new LifePath Index Portfolios extend the investment horizon out by 44 years, with the funds having target dates of 2020, 2025, 2030, 2035, 2040, 2045, 2050 and 2055.

Maybe Standard & Poor's' downgrade of the U.S. sovereign debt rating is roiling markets and causing China to double down on efforts to diversify its massive cash hoard away from U.S. dollar holdings, but last week's resolution of the debt-ceiling crisis has been good news for the money market fund industry.

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index declined slightly in July to 100.6, down 0.3 percentage points from June’s 100.9. However, from a year ago, the July index is up 4%.

Uncertainty and fear are driving affluent investors into cash at record levels, according to the MFS Investing Sentiment Survey. While investors of all ages are moving into cash, they are being led by Generation Y.

S&P Downgrades DTCC SubsidiariesPrinter Friendly Email Reprints Reader Comments Share | August 8, 2011Chris Kentouris Just hours after it said that Standard & Poor's downgrade on the triple A rating of U.S. government debt would not impact its valuations on collateral, Depository Trust & Clearing Corp was hit with its own downgrade.Like what you see? Click here to sign up for Securities Technology Monitor's weekly newsletter to get the latest news and analysis that matters to the effective operation of capital markets.S&P downgraded its triple-A rating on DTCC's subsidiaries Depository Trust Company, Fixed Income Clearing Corp and National Securities Clearing Corp to double A+, the same as U.S. government debt.The three organizations are critical to the U.S. financial market: DTC is the U.S. central depository system which settles U.S. equity and fixed income transactions while FICC and NSCC clear those transactions. In 2010 alone, DTC settled nearly $1.66 quadrillion worth of trades.S&P's decision to downgrade DTCC and its subsidiaries was pretty much expected based on the rating agency's announcement on Friday evening. S&P made it clear that its move to downgrade U.S. government debt could affect insurers, mortgage agencies and securities clearinghouses. At the time S&P characterized the target organizations as "entities with direct links to, or reliance on, the federal government."In a statement issued on Monday morning DTCC downplayed the impact of S&P's downgrade. "We do not anticipate any changes in our operations as a result of this revision of our credit rating," said DTCC. The market-owned utility also cited comments made by S&P that the ratings downgrade of its depository and clearinghouses did not reflect a change in S&P's view of the "fundamental soundness" of DTC or the clearinghouses but incorporate "potential incremental shifts in the macroeconomic and long term stability of the U.S. capital markets as a consequence of the decline in the creditworthiness of the federal government."Prior to the downgrade today, DTC and NSCC had received S&P's Triple A rating for nine consecutive years and FICC for siJust hours after it said that Standard & Poor's downgrade on the triple A rating of U.S. government debt would not impact its valuations on collateral, Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. was hit with its own downgrade.S&P downgraded its triple-A rating on DTCC's subsidiaries Depository Trust Company, Fixed Income Clearing Corp. and National Securities Clearing Corp. to double A+, the same as U.S. government debt.

Securian Retirement has added 12 investment choices to its retirement platform, including funds from AllianceBernstein, Nuveen, Manning & Napier and Pax World. With these additions, the platform how offers an array of 120 investments for participants and plan sponsors.

Rather than focus on the traditional notion of saving for retirement, asset management firms serving affluent investors with a minimum of $100,000 to invest and who are between the ages of 40 and 60 should understand that most of these people never intend to leave the workforce, according to Hearts & Wallets.

Blake Darcy had never set up a mutual fund.

OppenheimerFunds is paying $100 million to settle a class-action lawsuit against two of its funds, the Oppenheimer Champion and the Oppenheimer Core Bond funds

Fidelity Investments has promoted Derek L. Young from chief investment officer to president of the asset allocation division. He succeeds Boyce L. Greer, who recently became head of institutional investments for Fidelity Asset Management and vice chairman of Pyramis Global Advisors. Young now reports to Greer.

Here is how three top registered investment advisers achieved triple-digit growth in assets under management in the past decade: