Investment funds

Although credit markets are improving, money market funds are struggling to deliver positive returns, and as a result, since late last year, nearly all money funds, perhaps as many as 90%, have been waiving fees to avoid breaking the buck, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Credit Suisse has formed an investment strategies and solutions group, to be led by David Russ, the former chief investment officer of Dartmouth College’s office of investments. The division will collaborate with the institutional distribution team.

Fidelity Investments promoted Abigail Johnson to chairman of the board of directors overseeing fixed income and asset allocation funds, yet another indication of the firm’s intention to eventually name the younger Johnson successor to her father, Edward C. “Ned” Johnson III, 78, as head of the company.

Invesco, manager of the Aim and PowerShares families of mutual funds, has launched the Aim Balanced-Risk Allocation Fund, an international balanced fund. Via derivatives, it will invest 60% of its assets in fixed income, 20% in equities and 20% in commodities.

From recommending different products to rethinking their risk management strategy, some financial advisers say they have changed their approach in the wake of last year's market slump.

Connecticut lawmakers in the House of Representatives are expected to pass a hedge fund transparency bill, possibly ending the state’s days as a hedge fund haven, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Federated Investments has acquired two mutual funds from Touchstone Advisors, the Touchstone Value Opportunities Fund and the Touchstone Diversified Small Cap Value Fund. Combined, the two funds have $233 million in assets. And they will be folded into the Federated Clover Value Fund and the Federated Clover Small Value Fund, respectively.

In an interview with the Newark Star-Ledger, AARP CEO A. Barry Rand said he is intent on alleviating the “shock and pain” that is causing some people to believe it’s no longer possible to achieve the American dream.

Only 33% of parents are investing in college savings 529 plans, and only 20% of households earning $150,000 or more are taking advantage of them, according to a Gallup survey commissioned by Sallie Mae.

ProFunds Taps Doberman As General Counsel

In a challenge to one of mutual funds' strongholds, exchange-traded fund providers are targeting defined contribution plans.

How far the 401(k) has come since employers first introduced the savings plan in 1981. And how far it has yet to go. 401(k)s, I predict, will become universal in our lifetimes, supplanting all forms of pension plans.

Dow Jones Launches Economic Stimulus Index

While index funds already have a place in the lineup of most 401(k) plans, a proposed federal mandate to require at least one index fund option in these plans is intrusive and unnecessary, according to industry experts.

After several failed attempts, the Securities and Exchange Commission is again revisiting the contentious debate on shareholder proxy voting.

Vanguard Group has just announced it will lower its costs for the 19 investment options in the Vanguard 529 College Savings Plan sponsored by the state of Nevada by an average of 12%.

How far the 401(k) has come since employers first introduced the savings plan in 1981. And how far it has yet to go. 401(k)s, I predict, will become universal in our lifetimes, supplanting all forms of pension plans.

Bond giant Pacific Investment Management Co. is preparing to launch its first exchange-traded fund, according to government filings.

Money market mutual funds regained $15.45 billion in assets as institutional investors continued to seek safety in these products. Total money fund assets were at $3.789 trillion for the week ending May 27, according to the Investment Company Institute.

The U.S. economy will begin to recover by the end of the year but unemployment is another matter, fund managers speaking at the Morningstar conference said.