Investments

Want exposure to social media? There's an exchange-traded fund for that. How about airlines, hedge funds and frontier markets? There are ETFs for those too.

On June 15, 2012, the Matthews Asia Dividend Investor Fund (MAPIX), a 5-star rated offering, also garnered Morningstar’s Gold rating this week.

On June 15, 2012, total money market mutual fund assets decreased by $10.68 billion to $2.554 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, June 13, according to the Investment Company Institute.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is likely to radically alter how asset managers conduct business on a global scale. With final regulations to be issued in July, financial institutions must then take immediate steps to prepare for this game-changing legislation or risk stiff fines.

Mutual funds logged another brutal week, posting a third overall outflow this year, according to the Investment Company Institute.

You're sure you read it right: Apple was to launch an "all-ETF 401(k) plan" for its employees.

On June 15, 2012, the Northern Light Fund Trust and certain members of its current and former trustees as well as an unnamed chief compliance officer received a “Wells notice” from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

On June 15, 2012, long-term mutual fund inflows fell to $14.1 billion in May, down from $24.1 billion in April and the smallest haul for the year to date, according to Kevin McDevitt, Editorial Director at Morningstar.

On June 15, 2012, Manulife Financial said that Craig Bromley will be appointed senior executive vice president and general manager, U.S. Division, and president of John Hancock Financial Services, effective September 1.

On the first day of June, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.95%, the Standard & Poor's Index 2.18% and the and Nasdaq Composite Index 2.5%. In effect, stock market gains for the year were wiped out. The reason: Jobs.

Tax-exempt money market funds gave up the inflows they accumulated last week — and then some — when they lost $1.45 billion and total net assets dropped to $272.20 billion in the week ended June 11, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Municipal bond mutual funds continued their hot streak. As the market saw modest firming on the week, muni bond funds saw inflows for a ninth consecutive week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average stormed up 155.53 points Thursday to close at 12,651.91 while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 added 17.72 points and 14.22 points, respectively.

Royal Bank of Canada hired Gregory Steele to trade high-yield bonds in the United States.

On June 14, 2012, Los Angeles-based TCW Group said the combined TCW and MetWest mutual fund complex has experienced $4.7 billion in net inflows in 2012.

On June 14, 2012, SunGard today its SunGard Global Network, an automated trade-routing service connecting investors to fund families, has surpassed $400 billion in total fund assets, including mutual funds and money market funds.

On June 14, 2012, Teaneck, NJ-based Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp, a financial services shop, today issued a press release about a new partnership with ING U.S. “to offer a comprehensive array of insurance business process services.”

The new annuity products, which are being offered by wealth managers in the firm’s Advisor Asset Program, come in response to a growing demand among investors for a more guaranteed form of tax-deferred retirement income.

On June 14, 2012, if you think alternative mutual funds are just a fad, then maybe you haven’t seen the latest offering from PIMCO.

Martin Capital Management, LLC, has launched the Martin Focused Value Fund, which will bet undervalued shares of publicly traded U.S. companies.