Investment funds

Competition Critical for Lifetime Income: SPARK

PALM DESERT, Calif. — Shortly after the chief systemic risk officer of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation warned attendees at a securities operations conference Wednesday here that Greece's crisis was a systemic problem, the Dow plunged 1,000 points.

Add target-date funds to the list of headaches for advisers and investors.

WASHINGTON—The Securities and Exchange Commission is set to issue new rules on the use of derivatives in mutual and exchange-traded funds, Andrew “Buddy” Donohue, director of the division of investment management, told executives Friday at the Investment Company Institute’s General Membership Meeting.

WASHINGTON - The $12 trillion mutual fund industry will hit record sales of 20% or greater in 2010, driven by continued demand for bonds, alternative investments and international equities, Strategic Insight projects.

Dow Jones has added four new indexes to its growing family of required business performance (RBP) indexes. The new indexes are designed to measure the likelihood that companies can deliver the performance required to support their current stock prices.

It used to be that dividend-paying stocks and stock funds were seen as fit only for orphans and widows. But following the market volatility of 2008 and the current uncertainty of the low-yielding bond market, investing in companies that pay dividends is now seen as a prudent choice.

Connecticut's financial hub is struggling to rebound in the wake of the recession, but planners hope the area's relatively low real estate rates and high vacancies could attract jobs back to the area.

Women are living longer, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are prepared for the risks of longevity.

Two veterans of the hedge fund world are touting a product they say lets advisers focus less on investment decision-making and more on business development and client service.

Ameriprise Financial has put the finishing touches on its nearly $1 billion purchase of Bank of America’s long-term asset management business Columbia Management. The original agreement dates back to last September.

Working within existing regulations for 401(k)s and other defined contribution plans, Nationwide Financial Services is proposing 401KIncome, a new choice for workplace savings that includes an annuity option.

Putnam Investments has appointed Kelly Marshall as head of investment product management.

With the fresh spring breeze may come a breath of fresh air for The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., which this week reported a first-quarter profit and improved investment results. This is particularly good news for the insurer, which earlier this month repaid $3.4 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Funds.

Two veterans of the hedge fund world are touting a product they say lets advisers focus less on investment decision-making and more on business development and client service.

In 2011, 401(k) plans will turn 30, but the milestones the mutual fund industry has reached in this time are but a nanosecond in the history of U.S. retirement policy.

Predicting a positive but shaky year ahead, alternative investors are looking abroad to reap the benefits of the global recovery.

NEW YORK -- In the aftermath of the global recession, regulators from developed nations are working with financial industry leaders to build a new foundation for a more balanced global economy less susceptible to worldwide crises.

Wherever the money's going, it's not going to municipal bond mutual funds.

As the private-label mortgage bond market comes back to life, real estate investment trusts may play the lucrative central role that belonged to banks and Wall Street firms during securitization's pre-crisis heyday.