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A full 49% of retirees are insecure about their financial future, up from only 20% who were afraid a year ago, a survey conducted by LIMRA, the Society of Actuaries and the International Foundation for Retirement Education found.

Nomura will acquire a 35% stake in LIC Mutual Fund Asset Management Co., a subsidiary of Life Insurance Corporation of India.

ProShares has introduced the nation’s first 130/30 exchange-traded fund, linked to the Credit Suisse 130/30 Large-Cap Index.

AQR Capital Management has launched three momentum indexes and mutual funds, the AQR Momentum Index, AQR Small Cap Momentum Index and AQR International Momentum Index. The three no-load mutual funds are the AQR Momentum Fund, AQR Small Cap Momentum Fund and AQR International Momentum Fund. Each requires a minimum investment of $5,000.

Financial advisers have sworn by asset allocation and diversification for years, but in the face of the market’s demise in 2008, some are rethinking that age-old wisdom, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Investors showed strong confidence in long-term mutual funds in the second quarter, boosting sales in bond and stock funds by $136 billion, Strategic Insight reported. It was the strongest quarter for sales since the first quarter of 2007, when long-term mutual funds drew nearly $150 billion.

New enhancements to Envestnet’s unified managed account (UMA), such as product expansion, systematic income withdrawals and adviser-created asset allocations, will allow advisers to customize client accounts ranging from $150,000 to multi-millions on a single platform.

Mutual funds and other institutional money managers are using seven percent less independent research than last year, Greenwich Associates found. Providers of independent research reported that institutional managers are paying 11% of commissions this year, down from 18% in 2008.

Tocqueville Asset Management will acquire Delafield Asset Management, a provider of mutual funds, separately managed accounts and limited partnerships. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Tritt Promoted to EVP At DST Systems

It could take as long as five years for asset managers around the world to recoup the $10 trillion they lost in 2008, according to a report by Cerulli, which calls the global meltdown "of near-biblical proportions."

Fidelity Investments aims to double its assets under administration in the next five years, and stepped-up sales through banks will be a major contributor, company executives said.

Investors to Continue Seeking Fixed Income, Other Safe Funds

Nearly every asset class saw robust performance in the second quarter, but the initial elation at the lack of terrible news has worn off as investors brace for a tough second half, according to Lipper's review of the second quarter.

While mergers and acquisitions among asset management companies were down significantly during the first half of 2009, many M&A experts predict this decline will flatten out or reverse by the end of the year, driven by renewed faith in the profitability of asset firms and banks' continued need to raise capital.

Despite the best performing returns for mutual funds in the second quarter in the past six years, investors appear unsure that the market is actually turning around because they don’t see sustained strength in the economy or corporate earnings. In fact, some fear the recession could get worse.

After 56% of fund managers cut their equity exposure in the first five months of the year, in June, 32% said they would increase their equity investments, and 14% said they would hold them steady, according to a survey by the U.K.’s Association of Investment Companies.

iShares has introduced the iShares S&P Emerging Markets Infrastructure Index Fund. The timing is auspicious, as in May, emerging market ETFs attracted $6 billion, 40% of the $14.9 billion that investors placed in ETFs. And the trading volume of iShares emerging markets funds has increased 119% this year.

National Financial has enhanced its brokerage platform, Streetscape, with wealth management tools and Thomson ONE market data. The platform previously offered only account, trading and risk management capabilities.

Total assets of money market mutual funds climbed $4.36 billion to reach $3.668 trillion for the week ending July 8, according to the Investment Company Institute.