Investment products

The fourth generation of the Villere family shows that relatives can indeed get along - and achieve top performance.

Here's what advisors can do when a client resists selling a stock that's grossly overweighted in his or her portfolio.

Financial advisors to some of the wealthiest Americans see struggling Puerto Rico as an outlier in the $3.7 trillion local-debt market, leading them to add municipal bonds as the steepest federal tax rates in more than a decade loom.

Don't be fooled by its sparkle; gold is more risk than reward.

Stephen Mandel of Lone Pine Capital made hedge-fund investors the most money for the second straight year in 2013.

Selling high is a dicey proposition. But this simple mental trick can help you nail the other half of the investing equation.

As lifespans lengthen and the housing market rebounds, some advisors are reconsidering real estate as a long-term investment for their older clients.

The mutual fund and ETF industries are creating new products that could offer the benefits of hedge funds without the high fees and minimums.

Municipal bond mutual funds recorded their lightest outflows since May 22—when they last registered inflows. But money still flowed from funds for a 33rd straight week, Lipper FMI numbers showed.

FINRA alleges that the firms' advisors sold two types of highly risky ETFs that even they didn't understand.

Brokers selling higher-fee investments like non-traded real-estate investment trusts and derivative-backed structured notes may get more scrutiny this year after those markets grew in 2013.

The number of consecutive weeks of outflows, as well as their overall amount, surpasses those of the last great exodus from muni bond funds that occurred back between late-2010 and early 2011.

FINRA has identified the suitability of the bonds of distressed municipalities for investors, as well as municipal advisor activity, as areas it will focus on in 2014.

Treasury 10-year yields fell from the highest level in more than two years as investors speculated whether the U.S. economy will improve enough for the Federal Reserve to end bond purchases in 2014.

Fixed income funds dominate the space, but equity and futures funds may pick up speed soon.

McGraw Hill Financial’s Standard & Poor’s unit said the U.S. government has broadened the securities covered in its fraud lawsuit against the ratings company so that the case would be unmanageable at trial.

Planners may soon have one more investment option to counsel clients about.

After 30 years of declining rates, this past spring was a modest reminder that the tide also rises. The next time will be a disaster unless your clients act now.

Breaking out of the traditional allocation model to include a much broader range of investment categories and using relative strength principals to reallocate frequently may be one way to achieve stronger results for clients.

A 529 owned by a grandparent doesn’t count as an asset on the standard financial aid form but planning is necessary to avoid an aid reduction when money is withdrawn to pay college bills.