Special Program Root Tag

The ETF Council, a new trade organization for exchange-traded funds that will focus on both marketing and lobbying, is set to launch next month.

Reserve Funds’ Primary Fund on Friday will make its sixth payment to investors. The $3.4 billion payment brings total payments to $50.5 billion, or approximately 99% of the fund’s assets as of Sept. 15, 2008, excluding the value of the Lehman Brothers securities it held, now valued at zero. Before the fund’s net asset value fell below $1.00 on Sept. 16, 2008, the fund held more than $60 billion.

After the recent massive meltdown it’s no surprise that 81% of registered investment advisory firms and 79% of brokers/advisors believe that traditional asset allocation relying on stocks, bonds and cash provides insufficient portfolio diversification.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 4:1 Wednesday to substantially raise the standards for the types of securities that money market funds may hold; to require them to disclose their holdings and net asset value every month; and to have 10% of their assets liquidly available for daily redemptions and 30% weekly.

Fidelity Investments confirmed Wednesday that Charles Goldman, its head of institutional platforms, is leaving the Boston fund company.

The American Institute of CPAs is offering a CPA-oriented guide on Roth IRA conversions now that the old $100,000 income limit for converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA no longer applies.

NEW YORK—Putnam Investments unveiled a new website for its 401(k) plans Monday that keys investors into a monthly retirement income figure, rather than their existing balance or a retirement savings target.

New York Life Insurance has secured the rights as the presenting sponsor of the 2010 Big East Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships. The men’s championship is taking place March 9-13 at Madison Square Garden, and the women’s games will be held March 5-9 at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.

In 2009, mutual funds netted a total of $377 billion, with $357 billion, or 95% of that going to bond funds. Outflows from U.S. stock funds were $25.7 billion.

401(k) investors aided by professional investment advice—be it in the form of a target-date default investment, managed accounts or bona fide online advice—earn nearly 2% more (186 basis points) than those who do not receive such help, according to a joint study by Hewitt Associates and Financial Engines.

GuaranteesMatter.com, a microsite from New York Life Insurance, is designed to offer consumers educational and planning materials to help them navigate the changing financial landscape, by showcasing guaranteed products.

Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch Wealth Management unit has launched a new U.S. marketing campaign, “help2retire_____,” to illustrate individuals’ evolving retirement priorities and personal aspirations. Budgeted at $20 million, it launched Monday and is scheduled to run through the end of April on broadcast network and national cable TV, as well as print and online consumer and trade magazines, including sister publication Financial Planning.

Starting March 31, the WisdomTree Japan Total Dividend Fund will be renamed the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund and, while still providing the same equity exposure and using its dividend-weighting methodology, begin to hedge Japanese yen exposure against the U.S. dollar.

In helping the middle-class save for retirement, President Obama may have also given a boost to the annuities sector.

Blackstone Advisory Services Vice Chairman Byron R. Wien, who has made annual predictions for U.S. markets and the economy at the start of the year for the past quarter century, believes there will be a number of welcome surprises in 2010—not least of which will be GDP growth surpassing forecasts of 5%.

John Hancock Financial Services has named James R. Boyle president, in charge of all phases of the company’s businesses, including life insurance, long-term care insurance, variable annuities, 401(k) plans, fixed products and mutual funds, the John Hancock financial network and investment management services.

Hedge fund investors are more concerned with transparency and liquidity than they are with performance, SEI and Greenwich Associates said in a survey report, titled “The Era of the Investors” New Rules of Institutional Hedge Fund Investing.”

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is considering a bill that would require mutual funds, pension plans and other large institutional investors to publicly reveal how they vote their proxies, to impose proper corporate governance on otherwise passive investors who, seemingly, don't vote in the fiduciary interest of their end investors.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup said that a 2007 e-mail that a Charles Schwab managing director wrote could prove to be a “mea culpa smoking gun” since the executive says Schwab should tell investors it misrepresented risks in the short-term bond fund.

Charles Schwab has begun offering investors six professionally managed portfolios that have access to 24 exchange-traded funds, each portfolio with an investment minimum of $100,000. The Schwab Managed Portfolios will invest in up to 19 core sub-asset classes and offer diversification across all the major equity and fixed income asset classes, including TIPs, real estate and commodities.