Fund performance

Armed with a slew of wealth management veterans who chose to jump ship from U.S. Trust after it was acquired by Bank of America, Evercore Wealth Management has nearly doubled its assets under management to $1.4 billion in the past six months, but if that wasn't already impressive, the New York company's top executive expects to nearly quadruple that and reach $5 billion in the next five years.

In the "new normal" that follows this recession, exchange-traded funds will be ideally positioned for a new world of lower expenses, lower returns and exposure to a wide variety of asset classes, experts say.

A group of Democratic lawmakers has introduced legislation that would impose a tax on Wall Street securities transactions.

Despite the painful headlines, government bailouts and predictions of a flood of advisors going independent, wirehouses have retained both advisors and high-net-worth assets and will continue to dominate this space, according to a new report by Cerulli Associates.

Managers of 529 college-savings plans have always competed on fees, but the latest round of the bidding war promises to be the most intense.

Between the market rally and 401(k) investors’ steady contributions, balances are higher than what they were before the financial crisis hit, according to a Vanguard report, “Recovery in 401(k) Balances,” based on an analysis of the 1.7 million investors that Vanguard serves. What’s more, despite the intense scrutiny on target-date funds, some of which dramatically lagged their benchmarks in 2008, portfolios invested solely in target-date funds did better than others.

The steep losses that mutual funds experienced last year will come in handy this year as funds outside of qualified accounts look to offset capital gains, according to a recent Morningstar report. In fact, funds have up to eight years to harvest losses, which will make them tax-efficient for years to come.

Hedge funds are on track to deliver their best performance in a decade, according to Hedge Fund Research. As of Nov. 24, they were up an average of 18.81%. If they rise just another 63 basis points, they will beat their past record in 1999.

NEW YORK - Investors and money managers looking to diversify their portfolios by getting into commodities and commodity exchange-traded funds should keep in mind the volatile nature of these products, as well as the wide range of possible risks, experts say.

Two college-savings companies are borrowing a page from the consumer cash-back loyalty playbook, offering customers rebates on services including refinancing mortgages or opening online bank accounts. Futuretrust, a unit of Destination Maternity Corp., and Upromise Investments have partnered with a series of other financial services companies to offer rebates that can be swept into section 529 college-savings plans.

The financial services industry has been pulling in solid profits lately, but experts say firms should be mindful about how they dole out year-end bonuses and to keep the focus on rewarding long-term performance.

The U.S. economy is well on its way to recovery, according to most mutual fund CIOs, and just about all the economic charts show key growth criteria improving, barring an unexpected jolt.

Rather than being discouraged from saving as a result of the financial crisis, the market's 2008 decline and falling home values, these events have spurred more people into action. Seventy-five percent of 1,002 people surveyed by TDAmeritrade said one of their resolutions for 2010 will include a financial goal. Driving this figure overwhelmingly are minorities, with 56% of Hispanics and African Americans saying money-related issues will be one of their 2010 resolutions, compared with 32% of Whites.

Among the nominees for Morningstar’s Fund Manager of the Decade, a new award program that recognizes performance, perseverance and shareholder dedication, are managers from Fidelity, PIMCO, Oakmark and American Funds.

Continued contributions to 401(k)s and a 34% rally in the S&P 500 in the second and third quarters have propped up average balances quite strongly, Fidelity found in an analysis of the 11 million individual 401(k) accounts it serves.

The Department of Defense is now making Morningstar investment research available to all 6.5 million military personnel and their families. Previously, only members of the U.S. Navy had this access, beginning in 2002.

Although investors have continued to overwhelmingly favor bond funds over equity funds—taxable bond funds have netted $200 billion in inflows so far this year compared with a scant $4.3 billion to equity funds—their risk tolerance has remarkably changed.

Asset managers evidently are optimistic about renewed growth in assets under management, with 47% saying they plan to expand their full-time product management staff over the next 12 months, FUSE Research Network found in surveys conducted over the past two months. However, since 80% said they laid off staff over the past year, employment levels are not likely to return to pre-crisis levels anytime soon.

Despite the financial services industry's downsizing, New York Life Investments is building up a sales force to target the defined contribution market.

The addition of non-managed assets to a unified managed account could be the next step in the product's evolution, but some industry providers are skeptical whether the interest in stock-picking right now is enough for this enhancement to take off.