Investments

The recent Berkshire Hathaway trade, sound technicals and a recent industry move to standardize contracts might increase interest in muni credit default swaps, which has suffered from apathy on the part of investors and a lack of price volatility to attract traders.

Herb Morgan has a good barometer to tell how hot the market for exchange-traded funds is getting.

Federated Investors has added $4.4 billion in assets from four Fifth Third money market funds into four existing Federated money market funds.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sawed off 52.35 points Monday to finish at 13,254.29 while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 lost 32.40 points and 8.84 points, respectively.

Preparation is the key to a successful audit. The following guidelines will help your firm smoothly navigate the regulatory audit process and manage any possible surprises.

BlackRock is cutting fees for its large exchange-traded funds next quarter in response to pricing pressure from the Vanguard Group, Bloomberg reports.

Dimensional Fund Advisor has made its way onto Paychex’s Open Fund Select and Advisor Select platforms. Paychex provides of payroll, human resource, and benefits outsourcing services, including 401(k) plan recordkeeping, for small- to medium-sized businesses.

Denver-based ALPS Fund Services, Inc. has launched two large-cap Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) index funds that will invest in an index of three ETFS that track the S&P 500 (SPX) and two volatility indices pegged off the S&P 500 Market Volatility Index (VIX).

Bank advisors often say the biggest benefit of this channel is the constant stream of potential clients-but are they really leveraging that?

Over the next 10 years, advisors will help their clients facilitate the largest wealth transfer in the history of our nation's history and charitable planning will become an increasingly larger and more important part of that service.

Seventy-three percent of annuity owners and 17% of non-owners agreed that annuities are an important part of a retirement strategy, compared to 55% and 8%, respectively a year earlier, according to the survey of investors and financial advisors released at the IRI 2012 Annual Meeting,

"The industry has been in an interesting transformation," said Catherine J. Weatherford, president and CEO of the Insured Retirement Institute. "The financial crisis hit banks rapidly, but for the life insurance industry, it took a while for the issues from the crisis to develop."

Novato, Calif.-based Hennessy Funds moved closer to finalizing its acquisition of FBR Funds, and transferring the assets into various Hennessy funds.

The tax-exempt market ended on a slow note after a week that was described as mostly firmer by traders.

Advisors want more control over clients' managed accounts, and such accounts increasingly tilt towards mutual funds. Judging from recent results, though, the combination of these trends might not be good news for clients.

Risk management and regulatory reporting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 14.64 points Friday to close at 13,306.64 while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 added 0.61 points and 5.80 points, respectively.

Franklin Templeton has expanded its defined contribution investment only team this year with the addition of four wholesalers.

As the asset management industry evolves, innovative product options are being introduced to compliment traditional pooled vehicles.

Multi-manager shop Virtus Investment Partners has added Rampart Investment Management, which specializes in customized options strategies for institutional and high-net-worth clients, as a wholly owned affiliate of Virtus.