Special Program Root Tag

While the processing of many back-office functions is now automated, corporate actions have remained mired in e-mails, faxes-and general inefficiency.

Dark pools now handle roughly 12.6% of all trading in stocks in the United States, by the monthly account of Rosenblatt Securities, an agency brokerage.

Nothing that Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner or President Barack Obama can do at this point is going to prevent this country from going into another Great Depression.

River Road Asset Management has expanded its business development team with the hiring of Katrina Howard O'Leary as vice president of client services. In this role, she will work with institutional investment consultants and plan sponsors.

John Hancock Funds had a $9.2 billion record sales year in 2010. Now, the mutual fund complex wants more.

Although they have little trust in financial advisers, young American investors feel they are well-educated about handling their own budgets and are optimistic about the future.

Fidelity Investments’ operating profit rose 17% in 2010 to nearly $3 billion, up from $2.51 billion in 2009, driven by strong mutual fund sales and brokerage business. The company released the information in its annual report to private shareholders.

The Fidelity Millionaire Outlook, a survey of 1,000 millionaires, found that while their current outlook on the economy is weak, many expect marked improvement in the fourth quarter.

The U.S. and Singapore were co-valedictorians in a new Morningstar report released Friday as both countries earned "A" grades on a report card that measured the overall experience of mutual fund investors based on a variety of factors including taxation, transparency and investor protection.

U.S. investors have warmed to exchange-traded funds in a big way over the past five years and their growing familiarity with the expanding variety of products available helped pushed the total value of U.S. ETF assets over the $1 trillion mark last month, according to a report from State Street Global Advisors.In February alone, investment into these funds grew 3.5%, or $34.9 billion, and -- perhaps more telling -- investors added more than $6 billion to ETFs than they withdrew, a clear sign that many financial advisers and broker-dealers recognize that the growing variety of ETFs and the tax efficiency of these relatively new investment vehicles make them a viable alternative to mutual funds, annuities and other traditional investment products.

As more asset managers create exchange-traded funds, Charles Schwab has created a quarterly Schwab ETF Select List to help investors choose an ETF.

Broadridge Financial Solutions has created a mobile proxy platform, ProxyVote, that is compatible with a wide array of mobile devices, including the iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and Microsoft tablets.

Lazard Asset Management has launched two new fixed income funds, the Lazard Emerging Markets Debt Portfolio and the Lazard U.S. Municipal Portfolio.

Loomis Sayles has launched the Loomis Sayles Absolute Strategies Bond Fund, which Natixis Global Advisors will distribute in the U.K. and Europe.

The MICG Investment Management of Newport News, Va., and barred its chief executive and majority owner, Jeffrey A. Martinovich, from the securities industry.The move, signaled in February and announced Thursday, follows what the independent regulator of brokers said was misuse of a hedge fund, for personal enrichment of Martinovich and general enrichment of the company.

The fund will invest in money market and investment-grade debt.

Lincoln Financial Group is recommending that workers use the 2% reduction in Social Security tax as additional retirement savings. It joins the company of The Hartford and ING which have made similar recommendations.

Long-term funds took in $3.22 billion in the week ended March 2, the Investment Company Institute said.

Richard Davies is leaving AllianceBernstein to join Russell Investments as the head of its defined contribution business.

Columbia Management on Wednesday announced the launch of a new advertising campaign showcasing three of its top-performing funds.