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Forward Management has introduced no-load share classes on three of its real estate and infrastructure funds, in an attempt to make alternatives more accessible to investors.

Wasatch Advisors has named Eugene “Gene” Podsiadlo director of mutual funds.

DST Systems has signed a definitive agreement to acquire ALPS for $250 million in cash.

There's an interesting poll on the NICSA's Web journal about the adoption of tablet computers.

Russell Investmentshas promoted Len Brennan to president and chief executive officer, succeeding Andrew Doman, who is now chairman of the board.

Nearly every day, some financial services firm is announcing an app for smartphones or tablets.

Great-West Life & Annuityis in search of a new identity that it has charged its new chief marketing officer, Joe Greene, to map out. Greene accepted the newly created position at the company in March after having worked as senior vice president and director of marketing and strategic planning at Bernstein-Rein Advertising for three years.

Real-time. It's a phrase typically used by high-frequency traders on how they execute orders or receive market data before the tick of the most sensitive clock passes.

Fidelity Investments has named Scott Couto as the new president of its Financial Advisor Solutions unit, where he will oversee the firm's product suite, investment consulting services, product analysis and marketing endeavors.

Franklin Templeton Investments has launched the Templeton Frontier Markets Fund in Canada, which will invest at least 80% of its portfolio in 61 countries in the very early stages of development, such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Romania, Jordan, Tunisia, Columbia, Zambia, Paraguay and Kenya. International investing expert Mark Mobius will run the fund.

Pyramis Global Advisors, Fidelity Investments’ institutional business, has established a cash management business in London to offer a suite of money market and other cash management solutions in the world’s major currencies.

UBS Investment Management has launched two ETRACs exchange-traded notes linked to the performance of the UBS Internet IPO Index, which is comprised of 20 social networking, Internet software and Internet services stocks that have gone public within the last three years.

Sixty-seven percent of America’s middle-income Baby Boomers expect that their retirement experience will be drastically different from their parents’, a survey by the Bankers Life and Casualty Company Center for a Secure Retirement found.

Americans’ outlook for the economy darkened in June, a Harris Interactive poll of 2,183 adults in mid July found. Thirty-one percent are afraid that the economy will worsen in the coming year, 41% don’t expect any improvement, and only 26% are hoping things will pick up in the coming year.

Federated Investors has completed its acquisition of $509 million in mutual fund assets covering equities, fixed income and money markets from EquiTrust Series Fund and EquiTrust Variable Insurance Series Fund.

There is a lot of concern among investors about the looming Aug. 2 debt ceiling crisis, with investors wondering whether they should take steps to protect their assets in the event of a major crisis such as soaring interest rates and a decline in bond prices or even a stock market crash.

BlackRock said Thursday it is moving the production of its research on exchange-traded funds to a new unit and the long-timer producer of its "ETF Landscape" reports will be leaving the company.

U.S. Bancorp has launched its fourth multiple series trust to support mutual funds, called the Managed Portfolio Series.

SunAmerica Asset Management has launched the SunAmerica Global Trends Fund, a fund sub-advised by Wellington Management and that combines 10 global asset classes with a rules-based asset allocation strategy that seeks to move in and out of changing markets. The fund will invest primarily in futures contracts and also use technical analysis. It will have between 0% and 10% exposure to each of the global asset classes.

Half of all companies say they are likely to take such defensive actions as cutting capital spending and laying people off if the U.S. government defaults on its obligations, a survey of 305 finance and treasury executives by the Association for Financial Professionals found.