Fund performance

SAN FRANCISCO -- Americans need a financial plan to turn them around. They’ve been consuming too much and saving too little for the better part of two decades, Bill Gross, PIMCO’s co-founder and co-chief investment officer, told a rapt audience of financial planners at the opening of the Schwab Impact 2011 conference.

In 2009, U.S. banking regulators subjected 19 of America's largest and most important banks (the "Too Big To Fail" ones) to so-called stress-tests in order to understand how well each bank's capital reserves would meet different challenging economic scenarios.

With Europe in the grip of a massive debt crisis, U.S. unemployment still near double digits and global markets roiling on what seems an unending rollercoaster ride, the impact from the 2008 financial meltdown has been nothing if not severe.

Although the State Street Investor Confidence Index is still below 100, indicating institutional investors’ appetite for equities and other risky assets is neutral, the index jumped significantly by 6.7 points to a reading of 96.7 in October—underscoring marked and continued improvement in institutional investors’ outlook.

A Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey of global fund managers makes it abundantly clear that just about everyone is sure Greece will default on its foreign debt obligations. And while this isn’t good news, the view from top money managers is that this eventuality has already been priced into the market and most are more optimistic about the global economy than they were last month.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index rose 0.2% in September to 116.4 (2004 = 100), following a 0.3% increase in August and a 0.6% rise in July.

NEW YORK—With deleveraging debt now the modus operandi of the U.S. economy, the “tailwind of economic growth has been taken away,” said Curtis V. Arledge, vice chairman and chief executive officer of investment management at BNY Mellon.

American workers are becoming more and more pessimistic about their retirement prospects, according to a new survey by Sun Life Financial, but those who have invested in annuities or hold long-term care insurance are decidedly more confident.

Tune out. That’s essentially the message from Eleanor Blayney, consumer advocate with the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards.

Wall Street high rollers are expecting big bonuses at year-end—especially hedge fund managers and executives at boutique banks.

The Conference Board Employment Treads Index fell 0.45 percentage points to 100.95 in September, pointing to continued slow job growth for the rest of the year. However, the figure is up 4.4 percentage points from September 2010.

Despite concerns over the debt crisis in Europe and the growing debate over a second global recession, recent news on the domestic economic front has been “relatively decent,” according to Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott.

The Consumer Reports Sentiment Index remained weak in October, dropping minimally to 47.6 from 48.8 the month before—but showed some glimmers of hope for the economy.

While the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 14.3% in the third quarter, many mutual fund categories performed worse, according to Lipper.

The John Hancock Investor Sentiment Index, based on a survey of 1,005 investors by Matthew Greenwald & Associates, fell to 10 in the third quarter, down from 18 in the second quarter. When John Hancock launched the index in the first quarter of this year, the reading was 22. To participate in the survey, respondents needed household income of at least $75,000 and assets of $100,000.

BOSTON -- Top economists who spoke here at the Insured Retirement Institute annual conference told attendees to brace for fundamental paradigm shifts as they wait for global and domestic economies to stabilize.

In a new report, “Volatility Responsive Asset Allocation, Russell Investments recommends that institutional investors use a dynamic asset allocation policy that varies as market volatility changes.

The State Street Investor Confidence Index increased slightly, from 88.1 to 89.9 in September, and The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had declined sharply in August, remained essentially unchanged during the month at 45.2 ( 1985 = 100), up a notch from the August's 45.2 reading.

Americans are divided on their outlook for the economy, a Harris poll of 2,464 adults earlier this month found. Twenty-one percent expect the economy will improve, 45% think it will stay the same, and 34% fear it will get worse.

NEW YORK-"We are not in a death spiral, like we were in 2008 with Lehman Brothers," maintained Scott Migliori, U.S. chief investment officer of RCM, an asset management firm that is a member of Allianz Global Investors.