Fund performance

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index rose 9.3 points in December to 64.5 (1985 = 100), following a 14.3-point rise in November, The Conference Board said Tuesday.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index rose 0.5% in November to 118.0 (2004 = 100), following a 0.9% rise in October and a 0.1% bump in September.

Don’t rule out emerging market and high-end retail customers in 2012, according to a forward-looking analysis by Fidelity Investments’ Sector Portfolio managers. In coordinated press conferences this month, the managers pointed to numerous areas of growth they expect in the coming year.

Financial advisers will remember 2011 as “The Year of Volatility” or “The Year of Uncertainty,” according to a survey of 200 financial advisers polled by the SEI Advisor Network, an asset management and back-office administration service provider to financial advisers.

Americans’ financial outlook is ending 2011 with a continued rise in confidence, the Country Financial Security Index shows. The index rose 1.6 points in December, to end the year at 64.8.

Morningstar has announced its five nominees for the Morningstar Domestic Stock Fund Manager of the Year Award. The 2011 nominees are:

The $241 billion PIMCO Total Return, which has underperformed its peers over the past year—returning 3.48% year to date—has been hit with $17 billion in outflows, Morningstar data shows. By comparison, taxable bond funds, which are up 5.87% YTD, took in $105.8 billion in inflows over the past 12 months.

The U.S. economy, while still vulnerable, has shown encouraging signs of progress over the last few months, according to a report released Wednesday by TD Economics, an affiliate of TD Bank.

Despite the historic equity market decline of 2008-2009, most 401(k) participants earned positive investment returns in the five-year period ended 2010, according to Vanguard. In fact, the average return was 3.76% a year, not including the impact of continued contributions.

One of the biggest topics on the minds of financial services executives in 2011 has been volatility, with a slew of articles and TV news stories pinning the blame on high-frequency trading, hedge funds and leveraged ETFs.

The main drivers of markets in 2012 are likely to be similar to last year’s themes —uncertainty over the fate of the Euro, and the related question of whether or not there will be a global recession, said Alan Brown, group chief investment officer at Schroders.

Advisers’ two biggest pieces of advice for clients in 2012 is continued volatility (cited by 40%) and slow economic growth (15%), the latest survey of U.S. financial advisers by Russell Investments found. The survey was conducted among 300 advisers at 132 firms nationwide.

NEW YORK—The United States will not fall back into another recession, Benjamin Pace, U.S. chief investment officer, Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management, told a press briefing Tuesday.

Predictions are easiest to assess, when a year is over.

PHOENIX-A member of the President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers as the mortgage-led global credit crisis erupted said that the last big weapon in the Federal Reserve Board's arsenal to create strong growth is to avoid "tinkering around the edges" of the economy and aggressively reset expectations.

Economic and sovereign risks are likely to dissipate in 2012, according to Barclays Capital’s quarterly research publication, the latest titled, “Global Outlook: A Cautious Step Forward.” As a result, an economic rebound could come as early as the spring.

As equity funds across different regions, capitalizations and investment styles plummeted between -15% and -26% in the third quarter, publicly traded asset managers were hit with an average 8.9% decline in fee-earning assets under management, Moody’s said Thursday. U.S. small-cap stock and emerging markets indices suffered the sharpest losses.

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Congress can’t agree on how to cut the nation’s $1.2 trillion deficit, which is now more than 140% of the nation's gross annual economic output.

just-say-grow

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Predictions are easiest to assess, when a year is over.