Investment products

For several months hedge funds have been accused of luring top talent away from banks and other financial institutions. This is partially due to the fact that banks are not what they used to be; the salary, stability and bonus packages have greatly decreased. Hedge funds have been more than welcome to fill the void.

The good news for the merger and acquisitions market in 2012? Corporate profit margins have soared.

Fiscal cliff? What fiscal cliff?

For the week ended Dec. 5, investors pulled an estimated $5.84 billion from U.S. funds, bringing total outflows for the year to more than $136 billion.

Following the Malvern, Pa., company's announcement of 300 new hires in its Arizona office, the mutual fund giant has announced 354 new positions for its Pennsylvania and North Carolina offices as well.

Mutual funds may have tough times ahead, in remaining the investment of choice for a new generation of Americans. Their bread and butter: Older investors. Their weak spot: Investors under 35.

The holidays have been good for money market funds.

For the week ended Nov. 28, investors pulled an estimated $481 million from U.S. equity funds, a fraction of the $7.5 billion withdrawn a week earlier and the smallest weekly outflow since mid-July.

“[A] segment of wealth managers appear to live in denial, clinging to investment methodologies that have patently failed twice over the past decade and are likely to fall short again,” the authors of a white paper accompanying the survey results wrote.

For the better part of two years, Mary Schapiro told anyone who would listen that the federal government could not afford another bailout and that the money market mutual fund industry would have to backstop itself.

Think you've got your target-date planning down pat? Think again.

With the proliferation of exchange-traded funds, the products have become more complicated, suggesting possible pitfalls for the average investor.

Portfolios reflect a decline in risk tolerance; advisor fees inch higher

The S&P/Dow Jones merger pits the indexing giant against a changing marketplace. Here are a few ways advisors could be affected.

Many variable annuity issuers made changes to older products or introduced new ones.

Flexibility with rollovers, investments cited as key advantages of HSAs

High-yield dividend stocks may have entered a bubble, and clients and advisors should be aware.

San Francisco's Charles Schwab Investment Management emerges as yet another firm seeking an alternative to traditional preservation methods, filing for an actively managed ETF that specifically seeks capital preservation and daily liquidity.

Whether it's capital surcharges for fund companies designated as "systemically important" or dealing with new fiduciary rules for advisors and brokers or the much-feared reform of money funds, the bill is about to come due-and get paid.

Investors will continue to pour money into funds, especially into target date funds and ETFs, according to a report on mutual funds from Tiburon Strategic Advisors.