Investments

In a financial services version of Woodstock 2012, more than a dozen exchange-trade fund providers including iShares, Vanguard and State Street have come together in an attempt to make ETFs as much a part of retail investors’ lexicon as mutual funds.

Think target-date funds are the default choice du jour for define contribution plan sponsors? Think again.

Curian, Putnam Investments and the John Hancock Funds have won top honors in the 10th Annual NOVA Awards, which honor outstanding leadership and achievement in mutual fund operations and marketing.

Riverbridge Partners, which recently agreed to a deal with Northhill Capital, is making a play for the retail space with its new partner.

Could the 2012 holiday shopping season be the best one since the recession? Planners seeking clues to the performance of the U.S. retail sector should consider an industry group’s projection that sales for the November-December time period will increase 4.1% this year.

Registered investment advisors expect to see increased usage of ETFs in client portfolios, while aversion to risk remains high, according to results of Invesco's RIA Market Research Study.

Macroeconomic factors like advances in technology and global population growth, not to mention market volatility and investor fear, are accelerating the need for financial advice said Marty Flanagan, president and CEO of Invesco, at the Money Management Institute 2012 Fall Solutions Conference on Wednesday.

Outflows from U.S. stock funds decelerated last week to $2.3 billion; bonds more than make up the loss.

Cantor Fitzgerald, a New York global financial services firm, announced Wednesday it hired Theresa Mozzocci as head of marketing and sales for its investment advisory arm.

A new finding by Invesco is sure to make a few exchange-trade fund providers smile.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. is looking to close the BBH Core Select fund (BBTEX, BBTRX) to new investors when total net assets in the fund reach approximately $3.5 billion.

If you want to avoid personal liability in, for instance, properly valuing the assets in funds you manage, involve other persons in the process is the “simple answer,’’ legal analysts say.

Long-term mutual funds experienced inflows of $7.04 billion for the week ended Wednesday, October 10, according to the Investment Company Institute.

EGShares, the ETF arm of Emerging Global Advisors, launched a new emerging market ETF that—in a twist—will track an investment index rather than a benchmark index.

Investors have self-insured themselves well for a repeat of 2008, said the chief economist of Oppenheimer. But they're not ready for 2013.

NICSA Wednesday presented Jan Clifford, former president of the MFS Service Center, with its Lifetime Achievement Award, at its general membership meeting in Boston.

Kansas City, Mo.-based Scout Investments has launched the Scout Emerging Markets Fund (SEMFX), becoming one of the latest new funds seeking to capitalize on growing investor interest in emerging market plays.

Vanguard is offering investors a way to hedge against future inflation with today’s launch of the Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund (VTIP), in four share classes, including ETF Shares.

As exchange-traded funds become more popular with advisors and clients, allocations to ETFs in fee-based portfolios are quickly increasing, according to a Cerulli report.

It’s a conflicted time for American investors who are both worried about their preparedness for retirement but also terrifically gun shy about taking on new risk to help pay for it, according to a new study of 702 U.S. residents who range in age from 18 to 67.