Investments

So you want to tap into the global markets and find new opportunities for growth.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tacked on another 14 points to finish at 12,922.02 Friday following a better-than-expected government jobs report and word that Greece completed its debt restructuring negotiations to avoid an immediate default.

Covered bonds — dual recourse bonds that are popular in Europe but have seen little domestic issuance — may yet take hold in the U.S., according to a PIMCO report.

New York-based Water Island Capital is reopening its $2.95 billion Arbitrage Fund, which has been closed to new investors since July 19, 2010, on March 15, according to a Securities & Exchange Commission filing.

Thanks to stagnant interest rates and lingering worries over the Eurozone and other developed markets, the exchange traded fund market in February grew 3.9%, or more than $44 billion assets, over the previous month, according to a snapshot report released by State Street Global Advisors.

The exchange-traded product market reached $1.72 trillion of assets at the end of February, up 12.8% year to date, according to the ETF Landscape report issued by the BlackRock Investment Institute.

Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. has filed paperwork with the Securities & Exchange Commission to launch active exchange-traded funds, which are getting a lot of buzz courtesy of PIMCO’s latest offering and iShares’ proposed fund.

Nuveen Fund Advisors and GuideStone Funds garnered the top group honors at the 2012 U.S. Lipper Fund Awards last night.

Investors are much savvier about retirement planning than commonly thought, at least when it comes to target-date funds, according to a research note from investment management company Vanguard.

On the heels of Bill Gross’ latest active exchange-traded fund, BlackRock has thrown its hat into the active ETF space with a proposed offering of its own.

Exchange-traded fund sponsor WisdomTree has launched a corporate bond ETF covering emerging market issuers across Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

PIMCO’s All Asset All Authority institutional fund received a Gold rating this week from Morningstar Analyst Ratings. The PIMCO fund, managed by sub-advisor Rob Arnott of Research Affiliates, “had its many moving parts moving in sync in 2011,” according to a report by Morningstar analyst Kevin McDevitt.

J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Services has hired Stephanie Miller as global head of the alternative investment services business. In this new role, Miller will oversee strategy and direction for the Private Equity & Real Estate Services and Hedge Fund Services at WSS.

NYSE Euronext said its trading in derivatives has plunged 21.4 percent in one year, worldwide and its trading in U.S. stocks is also down 21 percent. And its trading in NYSE listed stocks now is less than half of what it was in 2009, at the height of the credit crisis.

J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Services has hired Stephanie Miller as Global Head of the Alternative Investment Services business.

PIMCO’s All Asset All Authority institutional fund received a Gold rating this week from Morningstar Analyst Ratings—the only fund to do so this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied up 70.61 points to 12,907.94 Thursday on reports that Greece has all-but-resolved some of its lingering issues with private creditors to ensure the country avoids a disorderly default.

Exchange-traded fund sponsor WisdomTree has launched a corporate bond ETF covering emerging market issuers across Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Market volatility severely curtailed revenue growth among asset managers in 2011, while independent managers continued to outperform management subsidiaries, according to a study released by consulting firm Casey, Quirk & Associates LLC.

In the search for yield, mid-cap stocks are often overlooked as an option. But the companies often have more room to grow than large caps, and many are “appealing takeover candidates” to boot, says Esther Kwon, equity analyst with S&P Capital IQ.