Fund performance

For professionals on Wall Street, the June jobs number confirmed what many already knew: The financial services segment of the U.S. economy lost jobs last month. Some observers say the pace of jobs lost on Wall Street could exceed all other previous downturns faced by banks and brokerages since World War II.

Back in 2005, the chances that Amvescap, now Invesco, would make a 360-degree turnaround seemed virtually impossible, but with a little bit of time and the addition of Martin Flanagan as chief executive officer, the unlikely actually occurred, Institutional Investor reports.

Last week’s Morningstar Investor Conference in Chicago may have echoed with many of the same old solutions of the past, but for those who listened carefully to Mohamed El-Erian’s message, “This time it’s different.”

Economists throughout the U.S. continue to weigh in on their predictions, rationalizations, and remedies for the current market crisis. As many forecasts indicate, hard times are still ahead for the American economy, The Christian Science Monitor reports.

WASHINGTON - Volatile market conditions and the credit crisis have put the hard brakes on new hedge funds. The number of hedge funds launched in the first quarter was the lowest for a quarter since 2000, while fund liquidations increased from a year earlier.

"I cheated my investors because I was afraid to admit my failure. I did not want the world to think I was not good enough and I did not want my family to see me as a failure."

WELLESLEY, Mass. - Gone are the supposed days when wholesalers stood around conference booths all day, cavalierly handing out golf balls, or taking brokers out for cigars and whiskey. To get through the new "Fund Selection Unit" gatekeepers at brokerage firms, today's wholesalers need not just have excellent people skills and be nimble, but be highly knowledgeable about the mutual funds they are selling, retirement planning issues and the economy, as well as be technologically savvy.

Fred Alger Management has announced its plans to consolidate all of its open-end mutual funds into the Alger brand by September.

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Gavin charged UBS AG's UBS Securities, LLC and UBS Financial Services with fraud and dishonest conduct regarding the firms’ retail sales of auction-rate securities.

Retirees may need more money than previously expected in order to cover all their health care costs, according to a supplemental study released Thursday by Fidelity Investments.

In light of Legg Mason Inc.’s recent struggles and dropping stock price, the company has slashed the pay of CEO Mark Fetting and its founder Raymond “Chip” Mason, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox announced this week that the SEC will be conducting an internal inquiry into the structure of its current disclosure system, creating a “fundamental rethinking of financial disclosure.”

When things start to go bad in the stock market or the economy in general, previously ignored things like mutual fund fees can suddenly irk investors.

Plans are currently underway to create a new commodities exchange in Hong Kong, potentially giving China a larger role in setting the world’s petroleum prices and adding to the reputation it craves as a global, economic powerhouse.

Hedge funds have recently increased their investment in aggressive, exchange-traded funds.

Recent hikes in oil prices and far-too-turbulent markets may have caused unwanted stress for investors, but Steven Lehman thinks he might be able to provide a glimpse of hope to pessimists by ditching the traditional pattern of investing domestically, according to The Wall Street Journal.

For the next few days, 1,500 fund managers from across the nation will gather in Chicago for the 2008 Morningstar Investment Conference, with the hopes of hearing new ideas and investment strategies that can help them reengage their clients in investments.

Lately, many frustrated preferred investors have searched for an opportunity to cash in on the subprime crisis and move on. Responding directly to investor woes, several closed-end fund companies like Nuveen Investments Inc. and Eaton Vance Corp. decided that they would be offering investors a chance to redeem their auction-rate preferred securities, The Wall Street Journal reports

Due to prolonged weak results, the Vanguard Group announced that David Fassnacht has been replaced as the portfolio manager of the $19.2 billion Windsor Fund (VWNDX) and the $490 million Vanguard Capital Value Fund (VCVLX), Dow Jones reports.

Investing in commodities—especially energy—has always been a way to make money in a weak economy, and this past year was no exception, Kiplinger’s reports. As the economy suffered, pension funds, hedge funds and mutual funds linked to commodities grew. However, as crude oil reaches $135 a barrel, the success of commodity investment might be facing a change