Investments

Wells Fargo Funds Management, LLC, the investment advisor to Wells Fargo Advantage Funds, has rolled out a fund that will invest in a wide range of alternative investments.

The chief economist of The Dreyfus Corporation said Wednesday that world growth will slow down again in 2012, based on International Monetary Fund calculation methods.

Larry Fink, chief executive of BlackRock, wants the asset management industry and government to take the lead in propping up investors' morale in a flagging market.

Change is inevitable and, for the most part, good.

The coming year is shaping up to be a fresh start for alternative mutual fund shop Pyxis Capital.

To Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary L. Schapiro's mind, the current state of the money market fund business is "living on borrowed time."

With ears to the ground in more than 30 countries, Franklin Templeton's fund managers are ready to buck plenty of fixed income investing trends in 2012. Most notably, they plan to embrace active management of their funds, as well as global volatility.

The Principal Financial Group has entered into a definitive agreement to buy a 60 percent stake in Claritas Investments, Ltd., a Sao Paulo-based mutual fund and asset management company with more than $1.8 billion in assets under management.

The CBOE Futures Exchange reported that February 2012 was the second most-active trading month in its history with volume totaling 1,340,780 contracts.

Here’s an interactive slide show detailing the best investment ideas for this election year from seven financial advisors practicing throughout the country.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 28 points to finish at 12,980.30 Thursday while tech stocks lifted the Nasdaq 22 points to end at 2,988.97.

The much-awaited opening of trading in Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Total Return ETF arrived this morning. By noon, 345,800 shares had been traded. Missing from the ringing of the bell at the New York Stock Exchange: the fund’s manager, Bill Gross.

Wedbush Securities has launched a trading platform provider that the firm says will dramatically speed up trades for fund managers and other institutional investors, as well as give them better control over their transaction costs.

For some Dow components (and their investors), February was a heartbreaker. Here’s an interactive slide show highlighting the 5 worst-performing Dow component stocks for February 2012.

The Principal Financial Group has entered into a definitive agreement to buy a 60 percent stake in Claritas Investments, Ltd., a Sao Paulo-based mutual fund and asset management company with more than $1.8 billion in assets under management.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management yesterday unveiled two funds today: a managed futures fund and a short duration income fund. These launches follow the launch of a rising dividend growth fund on Monday.

The municipal market for the month of February continued its upswing in new issuance of long-term bonds from one year earlier.

Fidelity Investments has launched an initiative dubbed “Thinking Big,” for publicly promoting the research of its investment analysts and experts. The firm will launch the initiative in conjunction with its sponsorship of the 2012 TED conference, an annual event that brings together global thought leaders.

Bank of America has added a new investment offering to its Merrill Edge program for mass-affluent investors.

The shares finished trading on their first day worth $99.96. Altogether, 550,375 shares changed hands on the NYSE Arca electronic exchange.