Fund performance

Job listings rose year-over-year 23% and job searches rose 10% in March, CareerBuilder said. In addition, in a recent CareerBuilder survey, 31% of full-time workers said they will look for a new position as the economy improves, and 77% said they would be receptive to a new opportunity in 2011.

Seventy percent of 88 institutional investors surveyed by Northern Trust expect inflation to increase over the next six months and 62% are bracing for a spike in market volatility.

Fewer workers plan to use their tax refund to pay off bills, and more plan to use it for savings, indicating stronger faith in the economy, a survey of 3,900 people by CareerBuilder found.

Escalating global inflation is the biggest challenge for businesses struggle to recover from the recession, according to the latest Global Economic Conditions survey of 2,300 accountants by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

The Conference Board Measure of CEO Confidence rose to 67 in the first quarter, up from 62 in the fourth quarter—showing a measurable amount of faith in the economy since a reading above 50 indicates a positive outlook.

Companies paid out $19 billion in dividends in the first quarter of 2011, Standard & Poor’s said. And the number of companies increasing dividends rose 27.8% to 510, up from 399 in the first quarter of 2010.

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index rose in March, its sixth straight monthly gain. Now at 100.9, it is up from 100.3 in February and has gained 8% from a year ago.

Moody’s Investors Service has lowered its outlook on Fidelity Investments from “stable” to “negative.”

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose to -46.9 in the week ended March 27, its first increase in five weeks. The index is based on telephone interviews with 1,000 consumers aged 18 and over.

Chief executive officers’ outlook for their company and economy improved markedly in the first quarter from the end of 2010, the Business Roundtable First Quarter 2011 CEO Economic Outlook Survey shows.

Wealthy investors apparently unnerved by rising oil prices and the potential for higher interest rates and inflation now say they are much less confident about the stock market and the broader economy than they were just one month ago.

This year's ICI Mutual Funds and Investment Management Conference wraps up today. So let's take a walk down memory lane.

The State Street Investor Confidence Index, while remaining below neutral territory of 100, rose 6.5 points in March to 98.3. In March 2010, however, it stood at 107.4.

There is a strong correlation between fund stewardship and performance, Morningstar found in its 2011 Mutual Fund Stewardship Grade research study, which examined more than 1,000 funds from 40 fund complexes.

The market's 3% decline in the week ended March 19 may be the low from which the market will rebound, according to BlackRock Chief Equity Strategist Bob Doll.

In Money Management Executive's first survey of its readership on their personal "profit" from this industry, the piggy bank looks full to about half the executives and managers polled ("Half Satisfied," p. 1). And not, to the other half.

Lipper announced the winners of the United States Lipper Fund Awards 2011 Wednesday evening.

Last week’s stock market decline may be the low from which the market will rebound from, according to BlackRock’s Chief Equity Etrategist Bob Doll.

Risk managers appear to be warily optimistic about the U.S. economic recovery, the latest reading of the Risk Index from The Global Association of Risk Professionals shows.

While economic gauges and surveys have been showing an improvement in investor sentiment in recent months, lately, some of the numbers have been faltering.