Special Program Root Tag

They tend to run counter to general economic trends and are shunned by socially responsible funds, but “sin stocks” – or funds that invest in alcohol, tobacco, gambling and the military – have continued to perform exceptionally well, Kiplinger’s reports.

Despite last summer’s credit crisis, alternative-asset managers – such as private equity shops and hedge funds – are valued at more than 20% assets under management, compared to 5% for traditional managers, the Wall Street Journal Europe reports.

Hedge fund managers may turn out to have raked in more dough last year than they did in 2006, according to Bloomberg Markets.

Asset-management mergers and acquisitions increased by 22% worldwide last year, despite the credit crisis in the U.S., according to Freeman & Co., a New York advisory boutique.

In a research study titled, “Va Va Voom,” the global consulting firm Oliver Wyman predicts that U.S.-style variable annuities could be as successful among European Baby Boomers as they have been in the U.S. and Japan .According to an article in Financial Advisers, a U.K. weekly publication, the Wyman study said that demographic changes in Europe—population aging and Baby Boomer wealth—would drive the appeal of VAs in Europe.

Despite subprime woes and credit crunch complications, money-market mutual-fund assets increased by $2.48 billion to $3.113 trillion in the week ended Wednesday, up from an adjusted $3.111 trillion, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Despite being the world’s largest consumer of gold, most Indians haven’t shown much enthusiasm toward gold exchange-traded funds, writes Dow Jones Newswires.

Mutual fund managers in China need to improve the way they manage funds and do more to educate investors on their products, according to Shanghai Daily.

A former associate with Goldman Sachs was sentenced last week to four years and nine months after being accused of masterminding a broad insider-trading conspiracy, according to the New York Times.

The State Street Corporation set aside $618 million to cover legal claims related to losses from mortgage security investments after five clients sued it, the New York Times writes.

Japan Looks to Overhaul Financial Regulations

Gemini Fund Services Foresees Clients' Twin Needs: New Solutions, Distribution

If space is the place for your managed fund investment dollars, one new tool, the web-based Space Foundation Index, may offer an intriguing perspective on the sector.

Seeing how the biggest story of 2007 was the subprime crisis, which only a few canny hedge fund managers foresaw, let's take a look ahead to potential news headlines for 2008. Who knows, we might even be as canny as the best of them.

McColgan's Next Act: Head of Morgan Wealth

Asset management firms are missing out-big time-on the benefits of Web 2.0 tools, such as blogs, wikis, mashups and social networking sites, by waiting for other firms to take the first step, kasina maintains.

The Department of Labor's proposed rules on 401(k) disclosure are insufficient, claim critics who say the disclosure isn't to the right people.

Goldman Sachs has debuted its second of several planned exchange-traded notes (ETN), the Claymore CEF Index-Linked GS Connect. The new ETN began trading on the NYSE Arca on Dec. 10.

Nuveen Investment Inc.’s Limited-Term Municipal Bond Fund has outperformed a benchmark index for 2007, bucking the downward trend of most municipal bonds in 2007, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Despite the damage done by the subprime meltdown and credit crisis, most U.S. stock and bond funds were able to post positive returns, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.