Investments

Schwab has lowered fees on all of its fifteen proprietary exchange-traded funds, Marie Chandoha, president, Charles Schwab Investment Management., said during a monthly media briefing Friday.

The investment fund industry in Asia is nascent.

Earlier this year, Deborah Fuhr, who formerly served as Global Head of ETF Research and Implementation Strategy at BlackRock and Barclays Global Investors, and co-founders Shane Kelly and Matthew Murray started London-based research company ETFGI.

The alternative mutual fund landscape is crowded with traditional fund managers looking to diversify their offerings with hedge-like mutual funds.

INDIANAPOLIS-The husband and wife team had lots of experience. They had worked at large mutual fund shops, then struck out on their own.

The U.S. Department of Labor's new regulations on 401(k) fee disclosures will serve as a wake-up call to plan sponsors and participants alike, once they stop hitting the snooze alarm, that is.

CLS Investments, a third party money manager, has promoted Todd Clarke to the position of chief executive officer.

A group of eight competing alternative mutual funds have once again come together to launch a six-city tour that will gather advisors for discussions of alternative strategies and tips on how to build an alternative fund portfolio.

Charles Schwab is looking to make a statement in the exchange-traded fund space, even if its CEO Walt Bettinger wants to downplay the significance of the move.

CLS Investments, an Omaha, Nen., based third party money manager with more than $7 billion in assets, promoted Todd Clarke to CEO as part of a series of executive changes.

The total assets held by money market mutual funds slipped to $2.568 trillion, falling by $10.3 billion, for the week ended Sept. 19, according to data from the Investment Company Institute.

The $1.7 billion Strategic Advisers Emerging Markets Fund has hired Acadian Asset Management as a new sub-adviser to the fund alongside Pyramis Global Advisors, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

"We provide all the tools a broker needs to thrive," said Russell Gebhard, president of Sovereign Investment Group in Houston."If the advisor is successful, it's more than likely the clients will be, too."

Cynthia Egan, head of retirement plan services at T. Rowe Price, is retiring on December 31.

After garnering over $1 billion that ended a nearly month-long, outflow pattern last week, tax-exempt money market funds were back in negative territory this week as they lost $449.9 million and total net assets settled at $269.80 billion for the week ended Sept. 17, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Investor demand outlasted the end-of-summer doldrums with robust inflows to municipal bond mutual funds. But the past week saw those flows to weekly reporting funds fall to more modest levels, $256 million in inflows for the week ended Sept. 19.

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management has decided to increase its minimum equity trade fees to $75 from $50 following a year of research on how its pricing fits the market.

Gabelli Adds Hedge Fund Vet to Alt Unit

Cynthia Egan, head of retirement plan services at T. Rowe Price, is retiring on December 31.

Pewaukee, WI-based Capital Innovations is currently prepping a fund that will bet on timber and farm-related, the Journal Sentinel reports.