Fund performance

The burden is on money managers to demonstrate their value by finding "sweet spots" that increase returns and manage risks if they want to maintain record profits and compete with increasingly sophisticated passive investments, according to a new study from McKinsey.

"ETFs are just a better mousetrap than a mutual fund,” Kapito said Tuesday at an investment conference sponsored by Goldman Sachs.

Investors resumed redemptions from Bill Gross's Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund in November, taking out about $74 million, the largest monthly outflow since the erstwhile bond king took over the fund last year.

Stock demand is rising after the S&P 500 recovered from its first correction in four years, returning to a range that has confined stocks for most of this year.

So far in 2015, Vanguard is leading a record $365 billion in net flows into low-cost and passively managed index funds and ETFs.

For the second straight year, tuition revenue will drop for about 30% of private universities, according to Moody's.

If the SEC's newest rules are enacted, open-end mutual funds and ETFs that invest in municipal securities are likely to become more risk-averse in a variety of ways that have implications for issuers and other investors that perhaps have not been fully considered by executives.

Net issuance of U.S. notes and bonds will tumble 26% next year, according to estimates by primary dealers that are obligated to bid at Treasury debt auctions.