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Employer-sponsored retirement funds could be an effective avenue into the world of investing for many African-Americans, who have historically lagged behind their Caucasian counterparts in stock market participation, the eighth annual Ariel-Schwab Black Investor Survey indicates.

Former Amerindo Advisors executive Gary Tanaka hasn't been on his game in recent years as a Wall Street manager, but his acumen for horse-trading is second to none, according to a report in this morning's Wall Street Journal.

While the rapidly growing presence of hedge funds in major segments of the credit markets promotes liquidity and diffuses credit risk, there are concerns that the loosely regulated investment vehicles could also exacerbate risk, according to a warning issued yesterday by Fitch Ratings.

The Van Global Hedge Fund Index gained 1.5% net of fees in June, according to hedge fund index provider Van Money Manager Research. That is a sizable uptick from May, when hedge funds posted 0.6% returns. The index represents the average return of hedge funds tracked by Van. Currently the year-to-date return for the index is 1.6%.

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer raised $6.2 million for his gubernatorial campaign in the first six months of the year, bringing his cash repository to a hefty $12.3 million, the New York Post reports.

It was ruled recently that a former White Rock, British Columbia-based mutual fund salesperson defrauded his clients of about $1.6-million over a six-year period according to a July 15 report in Canada News Wire.

Franklin Resources Inc. CEO Martin Flanagan is leaving the family fold to head to another mutual fund company due to the lack of a sense of position, according to a July 14 Associated Press report.

A judge dismissed MassMutual Financial Group's attempt to nullify a subpoena from Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin that sought information on the insurance firm's firing of CEO Robert O'Connell, the Boston Globe reports.

A judge dismissed MassMutual Financial Group's attempt to nullify a subpoena from Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin that sought information on the insurance firm's firing of CEO Robert O'Connell, the Boston Globe reports.

House and Senate Republicans have a new proposal that could that help make President Bush's Social Security reform package, including its controversial personal accounts, a reality, one prominent Beltway insider contends.

Despite falling returns of foreign stock funds, experts say that there is no reason to shy away from international equities, the Associated Press reports.

Two new reports from Corporate Insight have uncovered serious deficiencies in both marketing collateral and planning tools provided to advisers by major mutual fund companies.

Standard & Poor's Monday launched a semi-annual fund scorecard on the consistency of top mutual fund performers over three and five consecutive years.

UBS has appointed Warren Woo, the bank's global head of financial sponsors based in the United States, to head a new advisory group aimed at hedge funds, Reuters reports.

Scott A. Christian, a broker at the New York investment management firm Trautman Wasserman and Co. has pleaded guilty to charges of illegal late trading in mutual funds, the office of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced.

Scott DeSano, Fidelity Investments' high-profile head trader, is now working for the firm's strategic new business development unit.

Fund boards are starting to show their teeth.

NEW YORK - The financial advisory business has reached a tipping point. Gone are the days of low barriers to entry, robust markets and a seemingly endless source of new clients.

As the debate over Social Security reform reaches the boiling point in Washington, the Investment Company Institute and the Employee Benefit Research Institute are urging employers to step up their use of automatic enrollment for 401(k) plans to help shore up the retirement savings of millions of American workers.

TIAA-CREF has taken a significant step that is symbolic for a firm with a long-standing reputation for high governance standards and that will affect the bottom line for many of its retail mutual fund investors.