Investments

Change is in the air for money market funds and this time it looks like proposed reforms, in whatever form they may take, are going to stick.

The Board of Trustees of the Praxis Core Stock Fund has decided to fold it into the Praxis Growth Index Fund citing poor performance on the part of the Stock fund, according to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Thirty-seven percent of investors say they are now refraining from investing in stocks because of current economic or market conditions, and as many as 76% of investors say they are only somewhat or not at all willing to take on more risk to obtain a potentially higher yield.

Invesco Distributors, the US distributor for Invesco Ltd.'s retail mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and institutional money market funds, has launched an iPad app for advisors who work with defined contribution retirement plans.

Robert Hagstrom has joined Legg Mason Investment Counsel as Chief Investment Strategist, responsible for communicating Legg Mason Investment Counsel’s strategies and market views.

Equities stand to benefit from a boost in the housing market and stabilization in Europe while fixed income could lag come 2013.

Thomson Reuters has launched a benchmarking product to help custodian banks with performance measurement analytics, and Northern Trust has signed up as the first service provider to adopt the indices for its institutional fund servicing clients.

Principal Global Investor has named Mihail Dobrinov head of the emerging market equities team, responsible for the management of $9.3 billion in assets, including portfolio management of the $1.62 billion Principal International Emerging Markets fund and $1.8 billion in Asian regional mandates.

Charles Schwab has launched a new site for exchange-traded fund retail investors dubbed the ETF Education Exchange, which aims to “close the knowledge gap in ETFs by aggregating educational content, research and market insights from ETF industry leaders”.

Retail and institutional investors are making bets contrary to their investment goals, according to new research.

Municipals marked a day of rest following a torrid week of buying and record-setting yields as the bond markets closed for Veterans Day. Industry watchers said they were optimistic about investor demand and the overall state of the market.

Bruce R. Bent II, president of the failed $62.5 billion Reserve Primary money-market fund, was found liable for one claim that he negligently violated a securities law while his father was absolved of any liability in a lawsuit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Bruce Bent II, president of the failed $62.5 billion Reserve Primary money-market fund, was found liable for one claim that he negligently violated a securities law while his father was absolved of any liability in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

New research by the Center for Applied Research, a think tank affiliate of State Street Corporation, is bound to leave a few advisors scratching their heads.

Parametric Portfolio Associates, a Seattle-based subsidiary of Eaton Vance Corp., has agreed to acquire the business of The Clifton Group Investment Management Company, a Minneapolis-based provider of futures- and options-based overlay services and custom risk management products to institutional investors.

Charles Schwab has launched a new site for exchange-traded fund retail investors dubbed the ETF Education Exchange, which aims to “close the knowledge gap in ETFs by aggregating educational content, research and market insights from ETF industry leaders”.

ING U.S.’s Retirement business has hired Sam Ghazaleh as head of Investor Channel Sales for its Individual Retirement Markets, the company’s retail business that provides personal retirement, investment and income guidance and product solutions to pre-retirees, retirees and the rollover markets.

ETFs saw assets up by 21.5% since last year as of the last day of October, attracting over $133 billion of inflows over the year. That's up from $99.8 billion as of October 2011.

Municipal bond mutual funds saw heavy inflows, rebounding with authority from their first week of outflows in more than six months.

Halloween offered a nice treat for the exchange-traded fund industry.