Special Program Root Tag

In a survey of affluent U.S. investors, HSBC Securities reported a growing interest in overseas investing, and an opportunity for advisers to provide more information.

Gemini Fund Services and Broadridge subsidiary Access Data have formed a partnership whereby Gemini’s clients will now have rights to Access Data’s sales reporting solution.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index rose 5.6 points this month to 70.4, up from 64.8 in January.

Ivy Funds has launched a new branding campaign, with the tagline “The World Covered,” emphasizing its distinct and disciplined investment process, specific investment themes, global perspective, product breadth and nearly 75-year heritage.

The State Street Investor Confidence Index, which measures the buying and selling patterns of institutional investors, fell 9.2 points in February to 91.6, down from 100.8 in January. In North America, the index fell 6.8 points to 92.5, down from 99.3.

Fifty-two percent of the wealthiest Americans, those with a net worth between $5 million and $25 million, not including their primary residence, plan to buy individual stocks or stock funds in the coming 12 months, according to a new report from Spectrem Group.

GE Asset Management has completed its appointment of Highland Funds Asset Management as investment advisor for the GE Funds. GE will serve as sub-advisor to all of the funds except the GE Small-Cap Equity Fund, which uses other third-party sub-advisors.

Putnam Investments announced Tuesday that it is developing an absolute return fund for use in variable annuities and other variable insurance products.

John Hancock Funds Monday announced a new advertising campaign to showcase its investment management expertise and trusted brand.

MIAMI-The forecasting firms are fairly unified about their expectations for information technology spending by financial services firms in 2011.

"Centralized clearing"-it's the phrase used to describe the requirement that financial firms clear their trades in standardized over-the-counter derivatives contracts through a clearinghouse that can guarantee completion of the transaction, rather than entering transactions directly with each other.

NICSA

Robert S. Zuccaro will rejoin GAMCO Investors as executive vice president and chief financial officer. He is currently the chief financial officer of Commonwealth Management Partners. Previously, Zuccaro was executive vice president and chief accounting officer with National Financial Partners. Prior to joining GAMCO originally in 1998, Zuccaro was the vice president and treasurer of Cybex International, where he worked for 13 years. Before, that he was with Shearson Lehman, and began his career with Ernst & Young.

The growth of mobile devices to access the Internet is outpacing the growth of desktop use. More users are expected to connect to the Internet via mobile devices than their desktops by 2014. Even today, 55% of mobile users go online on a daily basis. Asset managers should be aware of how changes in mobile technology will continue to affect distribution, and they need to develop mobile strategies to drive sales.

Fifty-nine percent of fund managers do not expect their return on equity to return to pre-crisis levels, and, thus, a majority are focused on cost reduction, product innovation and outsourcing.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into whether municipal bond funds may have overstated the value of their high-yield holdings, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Lincoln Financial Group says it took swift action to safeguard private consumer information and beef up its security policies, after it discovered vulnerabilities in a Web-based system that stored consumer account records for two of its business units.

ING U.S. Retirement Services is asking Americans to take the 2% reduction in their Social Security taxes and use the money for their retirement, in a new “Retirement Raise” campaign.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said Friday that Enforcement Executive Director James S. Shorris will leave the self-regulatory agency in April and return to the private sector.More information about the reason for Shorris’ departure or his future role were not disclosed.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index rose 0.1% in January to 112.3, following a 0.8% rise in December and a 1.1% increase in November.