Investments

It looks like iShares isn’t going to be scared off that easily by the BATS Exchanges’s glitch last month.

Principal Funds has added three new regional directors to the firm’s investment only team: Marcel Dawson, Gary Nakamura and Pamela Suing. Each will focus on growth within the registered investment advisor distribution channel.

Investors’ confidence rose during the first quarter of 2012, according to the newly-released John Hancock Investor Sentiment Index.

Market Vectors ETF Trust has launched the International High Yield Bond ETF, which bet on the corporate high-yield bond market.

The percentage of investors who believe they’re in a better financial position today than they were two years ago rose to 43% in the first quarter, compared with 33% in the last quarter of 2011.

BlackRock Investments Canada Inc. has appointed Mary Anne Wiley managing director and head of its combined exchange-traded fund business, replacing Som Seif, founder and chief executive of the recently-acquired Claymore Investments, Inc.

The moment was remarkable, if not dramatic.

Invesco’s shareholders of the Invesco High Income Municipal Fund and the Invesco U.S. Mid Cap Value Fund have approved a plan to merge those funds into the Invesco Van Kampen High Yield Municipal Fund and Invesco Van Kampen American Value Fund.

SEI, a provider of investment processing, fund processing, and investment management business outsourcing services, has appointed Stephen Beinhacker as Global Head of Equities for SEI's Investment Management Unit.

Financial advisors such as Matthew Tuttle represent the front lines of raging conflict between mutual funds and exchange-traded products, in particular over management fees and related costs.

Stewart Capital Advisors, LLC, the investment advisor for Stewart Capital Mutual Funds, said that it has made the Stewart Capital Mid Cap Fund available as a no-load mutual fund effective April 1.

RiverPark Advisors LLC, a New York-based investment advisory company, has launched the RiverPark Long/Short Opportunity Fund, an open-end mutual fund that was converted from an existing hedge fund launched in October 2009.

Municipal bond defaults in early 2012 were up dramatically — or down dramatically — depending on how you look at the data.

By any measure, the first quarter of 2012 was a very good one for investors. Here’s an interactive slide show featuring the 5 best-performing Dow stocks so far this year.

Advisors have increased their recommendations of variable annuities since 2008, regardless of whether they were annuity supporters or skeptics.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average moved up another 52.45 points to finish at 13,264.49 Monday while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 added 28.13 points and 10.57 points, respectively.

RiverPark Advisors LLC, a New York-based investment advisory company, has launched the RiverPark Long/Short Opportunity Fund, an open-end mutual fund that was converted from an existing hedge fund launched in October 2009.

Invesco’s shareholders of the Invesco High Income Municipal Fund and the Invesco U.S. Mid Cap Value Fund today approved a plan to merge those funds into the Invesco Van Kampen High Yield Municipal Fund and Invesco Van Kampen American Value Fund.

Aristotle Capital Management, LLC, a registered investment advisor focused primarily on managing separate accounts for institutions and high net-worth investors, has launched its first mutual fund—employing many of the go-anywhere strategies it employs for these high-net clients.

RidgeWorth Investments is closing its Small Cap Value Equity Fund, subadvised by Ceredex Value Advisors LLC to new investors effective April 20.