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Attracted by exchange-traded funds’ transparency, liquidity and low fees, more institutional investors turned to these instruments during the crisis, Barclays Global Investors said in a report based on Thomson Reuters data.

Three Join Wilmington's Wealth Advisory Business

47% of Asset Managers Expect to Expand Product Management Staff

Mutual funds and large institutional investors are being spared from a new Securities and Exchange Commission proposal to reign in the growing use of dark pools to hide trading information, since only trades smaller than $200,000 would be exposed.

Invesco and Eaton Vance last week launched an exchange-traded fund and an actively managed bond fund, respectively, designed to track the performance of taxable Build America Bonds-a potentially transformative product that has helped galvanize public finance in 2009.

The U.S. economy is well on its way to recovery, according to most mutual fund CIOs, and just about all the economic charts show key growth criteria improving, barring an unexpected jolt.

Vanguard has launched seven new bond exchange-traded funds covering corporate, mortgage-backed and government segments.

At an educational seminar for the asset management industry that law firm Walkers is hosting on Dec. 2 in New York, the focus will be on the key issues facing the industry, restoring investor confidence being the most important one.

With income limits and filing status restrictions being removed on Roth IRAs as of Jan. 1, Fidelity Investments has created an online Roth IRA conversion calculator available to its independent registered investment advisor clients and broker/dealer clients of National Financial, Fidelity’s correspondent clearing business. Using this calculator, advisers can walk their clients through a series of questions to help them determine whether a Roth IRA might be appropriate.

Barclays has launched the iShares S&P India Nifty 50 Index Fund, which tracks the S&P CNX Nifty Index of the 50 largest and most liquid Indian securities listed on the National Stock Exchange of India.

Lincoln Financial Group has launched the Lincoln MYGuarantee Plus single premium deferred fixed annuity. It is available for qualified plans (IRA and Roth IRA) through partner firms and the Lincoln financial network.

OppenheimerFunds decided to settle a lawsuit filed by the state of Oregon over its 529 plan for $20 million, payable to 45,000 investors in the plan early next year.

Transamerica has introduced a mutual fund platform for workplace retirement plans that offers target maturity choices, 300 funds from 35 companies and has no proprietary fund requirements. Sponsors and advisers also have a choice of pricing.

Three days after saying it would delay the effective date to permit 401(k) plan administrators to offer investment advice, the Department of Labor decided to scrap the rule altogether. The third extension for the effective date would have been May 17, 2010.

R.R. Donnelley has developed a financial services application compatible with iPhones, called Socrates, that investors can use to make purchases. R.R. Donnelley plans to follow up on this with additional smart phone applications.

Rather than being discouraged from saving as a result of the financial crisis, the market's 2008 decline and falling home values, these events have spurred more people into action. Seventy-five percent of 1,002 people surveyed by TDAmeritrade said one of their resolutions for 2010 will include a financial goal. Driving this figure overwhelmingly are minorities, with 56% of Hispanics and African Americans saying money-related issues will be one of their 2010 resolutions, compared with 32% of Whites.

Most financial advisers are preparing to add more financial planning services to their practices as a result of the recent recession, according to a report on practice management by Cerulli Associates.

Lord Abbett has launched a new website lordabbett.com/advisor designed to help financial advisers grow their business by focusing on three key areas: investment solutions, market insights and practice management.

ALPS Advisors has launched the ALPS/GNI Long-Short Fund, in conjunction with GNI Capital.

Long-term mutual funds enjoyed their 35th straight week of inflows, totaling $8.42 billion for the week ended Nov. 11, according to the Investment Company Institute. Year-to-date, equity, fixed income and hybrid fund sales now total $357 billion.