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In response to growing demand for international equity funds, RS Investments has launched two new global equity mutual funds, the RS Global Growth Fund and the RS Greater China Fund. Baillie Gifford Overseas will sub-advise the funds.

Senators Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Mike Enzi (R-WY) have proposed the Savings Enhancement by Alleviating Leakage in 401(k) Savings Act (SEAL), which would limit the number of loans that participants can take from their 401(k) to no more than three at a time.

Despite the widely held belief that younger investors have become tremendously risk-averse due to the economic crisis, Vanguard is finding that younger investors have increased their equity exposure considerably.

Russell Investments has launched a new suite of six exchange-traded funds, the Russell Investment Discipline ETFs, which focus on six investment styles commonly used by investment managers.

Global X Funds has launched the Global X Auto ETX (ticker: VROM), which will invest 76% of its portfolio in auto manufacturers and 26% in auto parts and equipment.

Since most participants accept the deferral rates that are automatically set in 401(k) plans, sponsors should increase those rates to at least 6% or higher, The Principal says.

Long-term funds look in $3.91 billion in the week ended May 11, the Investment Company Institute said.

Operating margins of publicly traded asset managers ticked down to 30.5% in the first quarter of 2011, down from 31.4% in the previous quarter, Kasina said. Net margins decreased from 23.4% to 22.1%.

Taxable bond funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs) enjoyed another banner month in April, according to Morningstar's latest Direct Fund Flow Update, adding another $17.7 billion and $23.3 billion in inflows, respectively.For the month, taxable bond funds recorded the largest percentage increase of any asset class while inflows for U.S. ETFs more than tripled from the $6.9 billion added in March.

LAS VEGAS - Could the United States be headed for another Great Depression?

Fidelity Investments has launched its first international high-yield fund, the Fidelity Global High Income Fund.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has proposed that broker-dealers disclose any revenue-splitting arrangements they have with mutual funds at the time they sell their shares to investors.

Advisory clients, attorneys and other members of the public previously had to contact the staff at Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to get copies of disciplinary actions for firms and registered representatives.

LAS VEGAS - The federal budget deficit is estimated to skyrocket to $1.6 trillion in 2011, but Andrew H. Friedman of The Washington Update told a standing-room only crowd at the Investment Management Consultants Association's annual conference that there are still opportunities for investors.While the substantial deficit is here to stay, the $2 trillion in stimulus that has flooded the economy has made for huge growth in the stock market, Friedman explained. “We need to be careful what happens when the stimulus stops,” he added.

Kasina has named Vanguard, Fidelity, TIAA-CREF, iShares and The Hartford the five most successful users of social media among asset management firms.

A perfect storm of eroding Social Security trust funds, high unemployment and a flood of Baby Boomers all hitting retirement age at the same time will put enormous strain on Social Security for the next two decades, forcing retirees and their advisers to come up with alternative retirement income plans and strategies to make ends meet.

Many investors are unaware of the options available for their 401(k) left with a previous employer, Fidelity Investments found. Nearly one-third, 30%, who made a job transition are unsure of what to do with their workplace retirement savings.

Northern Trust said it plans to acquire technology-driven hedge fund administration firm Omnium from Citadel, the large Chicago asset manager and market-making firm.

Nearly 150 hand-picked and already highly successful Bank of America Merrill Lynch financial advisers next month will embark on what amounts to retirement training boot camp at The Retirement Advisor University (TRAU) in pursuit of a Certified 401(k) Professional designation to further their defined-contributions expertise and differentiate themselves from other DC practitioners.

Mass affluent investors, those with $100,000 to $1 million in investable assets, are pessimistic about investing, a survey of 596 individual investors and 610 financial advisers by MFS Investment Management found.