Special Program Root Tag

Transparency is a popular buzzword in the securities industry of late. It's the stock answer to what regulators want about anything that has to do with risk in financial markets.

Six days after the Securities and Exchange Commission holds a roundtable discussion regarding money market funds and systemic risk, the Investment Company Institute (ICI) will host its own one-day money market fund summit.

State Street Global Advisors has launched the SPDR Nuveen S&P High Yield Municipal Bond Exchange Traded Fund, developed in conjunction with Nuveen Asset Management, which will serve as sub-advisor. The fund seeks to track the performance of the S&P Municipal Yield Index.

BlackRock has launched the BlackRock Investment Institute, whose purpose is to provide investment insights to clients.

Job listings rose year-over-year 23% and job searches rose 10% in March, CareerBuilder said. In addition, in a recent CareerBuilder survey, 31% of full-time workers said they will look for a new position as the economy improves, and 77% said they would be receptive to a new opportunity in 2011.

Dreyfus has launched the Dreyfus India Fund, rounding out its emerging markets offerings. Dreyfus affiliate Hamon U.S. Investment Advisors, which specializes in Asian investments, will sub-advise the fund. The Dreyfus India Fund will invest in both equities and fixed income, and seek companies with strong growth potential and that are attractively priced.

Pershing is expanded its focus on the retirement market to help broker-dealers and registered investment advisors capture the rollover market, which is estimated to be $303 billion a year.

Four in 10 working Americans say they will never be able to afford to retire, a Harris Interactive survey of 1,005 adults for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants found.

AXA Equitable has launched two new “virtual consultation” calculators accompanied with videos of licensed and experienced financial consultants to help individuals determine how much life insurance they may need and how long their retirement savings will last.

Van Eck Global has launched the Market Vectors Russia Small-Cap ETF, a fund that seeks to replicate the Market Vectors Russia Small-Cap Index.

ProShares has launched two new exchange-traded funds, the ProShares Ultra High Yield and the ProShares Ultra Investment Grade Corporate funds. The firm says it is they are the first ETFs to offer exposure to the two fixed income asset classes.

Long-term mutual funds had $8.9 billion in inflows in the week ended April 6, the Investment Company Institute said Wednesday.

Global X Funds has launched the Global X Waste Management ETF, which will evenly divide its holdings in hazardous and non-hazardous waste and recycling companies.

Whether it's a case of the comparatively small number of "haves" simply socking away a lot more money or a jump in smaller contributions by a larger group of middle class investors, Americans' total retirement investment assets surged to more than $17.5 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2010, up 9.1% for the year.

CastleOak Securities has launched Money Fund Access, an institutional money fund portal that leverages State Street’s FundConnect platform.

Seventy percent of 88 institutional investors surveyed by Northern Trust expect inflation to increase over the next six months and 62% are bracing for a spike in market volatility.

Pershing, a BNY Mellon company, has formed an alliance with Roubini Global Economics to provide Pershing’s hedge fund, broker-dealer and registered investment advisor clients with exclusive Roubini research on trends and developments shaping the global economy.

FINRA has fined UBS Financial Services $2.5 million and ordered to pay $8.25 million in restitution for conduct related to the sale of Lehman Brothers Holdings principal protection notes.The fine and restitution is tied to alleged misleading of investors that took place in the sale of the principal protection notes, or PPNs, prior to Lehman Brothers’ Sept. 2008 bankruptcy filing. The PPNs promised a minimum return equal to an investor’s investment, according to FINRA, and were structured as fixed-income security structured products including bonds and options.

Fewer workers plan to use their tax refund to pay off bills, and more plan to use it for savings, indicating stronger faith in the economy, a survey of 3,900 people by CareerBuilder found.

Thirty-three percent of Boomers are worried they won’t have enough money saved for retirement, 34% do not know the age at which they will retire, and 57% plan to continue working, according to the findings of a survey by the Insured Retirement Institute.