Fund performance

Visium Asset Management announced the launch of the Visium Event Driven Fund (VIDVX). This is the first mutual fund offering for the alternative asset management firm, which was founded in 2005.

Best known as the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange and the first to head one of its member firms, Muriel F. “Mickie” Siebert died from cancer on August 24 at the age of 80.

Bloomberg -- U.S.-registered bond mutual and exchange-traded funds lost $30.3 billion to investor redemptions this month, putting them on track for their slowest year since 2004.

Bloomberg -- It’s a mistake for investors to be focusing on fixed income, according to Joseph L. Hooley, chief executive officer of Boston-based State Street Corp.

Mellon Capital Management, a multi-asset manager for BNY Mellon, has become a signatory to the United Nations-Backed Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI), emphasizing its dedication to incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into its investment program.

Raymond James is ramping up its pitch to attract independent advisors by opening up access to alternative investments.

The fact that clients don’t always divulge all their personal financial information to their financial advisors comes as no surprise. The questions that need to be answered, however, are: how many clients, what is being withheld and why are they so secretive?

Small business owners are feeling more confident even as the economy struggles to return to a more robust level of growth.

Approval has been given by the Board of Directors of Fairholme Funds to reopen The Fairholme Fund (FAIRX) to new investors.

The estimated U.S. mutual fund asset flows for July 2013 were released by Morningstar today. Investors added $15.9 billion to long-term mutual funds in July, driven by inflows of $7.9 billion into international-equity funds.

Visium Asset Management announced the launch of the Visium Event Driven Fund (VIDVX). This is the first mutual fund offering for the alternative asset management firm, which was founded in 2005.

Bank of America has launched a campaign around socially responsible investing that is designed to enhance products and services available to a growing segment of clients concerned with value-based investing.

LPL wants its advisors to know that it has heard their complaints and is doing something about them.

Alternatives juggernaut Blackstone joined the likes of other fellow private investment firms The Carlyle Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) last month as the asset management practice continues its revolutionary switch in business focus out of institutional coffers and into the retail investment space.

Merrill Lynch & Co. may be dead, but long live Merrill Lynch. While Bank of America has announced plans to dissolve Merrill Lynch & Co. as soon as the fourth quarter of this year, but the roughly 14,000 advisors operating in its brokerage division shouldn't see a name change.

These are stressful times for the mutual fund industry. An obvious statement, but one authored by a colleague ten years ago. Even more interesting is that the trends cited then are the same concerns that we hear from clients today. So what has changed?

Will LPL Financial be getting into the banking business? While the nation's largest independent broker-dealer says it has no “imminent” plans to own a bank, it now can if it wants to -- thanks to the announcement of a stock distribution by two of the firm’s original private-equity investors.

In order to tap into fresh sources of capital, non-U.S. fund managers are looking to the U.S. to distribute investment strategies. This raises many issues: choosing the right vehicles for the job, regulatory considerations, and more.

Fewer RIAs this year are in the mood to sell thanks to stable growth in the markets.

The estimated U.S. mutual fund asset flows for July 2013 were released by Morningstar today. Investors added $15.9 billion to long-term mutual funds in July, driven by inflows of $7.9 billion into international-equity funds.