Investments

Banks looking to boost their profits are missing the boat on a big opportunity: marketing investment and insurance products to mass-affluent households.

Morningstar, Inc. has launched a new alternative investments center as part of several enhancements to MorningstarAdvisor.com, a free website that provides advisors with practice management information, investment trends, and industry insights.

Matrix Financial Solutions has expanded the functionality of TrueOpen, its core mutual fund trading platform, to address growing demands from retirement plan providers and advisors.

Seoul, Korea-based Mirae Asset Global Investments today unveiled its Global Dynamic Bond Fund, which will bet on sovereign, quasi-sovereign and corporate bonds from issuers in both emerging and developed markets, for U.S. investors.

With investors around the globe still nervous about the potential for more stock market volatility ahead, BlackRock chief equity strategist Bob Doll notes that it’s necessary to think globally to understand where markets are headed.

Wasatch Funds has launched what it touts as “one of the few no-load open-end mutual funds focused exclusively on frontier and smaller emerging market countries,” including Africa and Southeast Asia.

Pyxis Capital, formerly known as Highland Funds Asset Management, L.P., has broken away from its parent, Highland Capital Management, L.P., and taken on a new moniker and a new approach to creating alternative mutual funds.

Jackson National Life Insurance Company, a purveyor of variable annuities, is looking to offer its advisors and their retail clients access to alternative investments.

Russell Investments has introduced a series of indexes designed to allow fund managers to control volatility in their portfolios.

A new investment management shop has opened in Palm Beach, Fla., dubbed Crest Investment Partners LLC. The partnership is a subsidiary of Cypress Capital Group, itself a $830 million boutique trust and investment services firm.

Nasdaq OMX and risk analytics developer Axioma have launched a family of indexes that will give investors exposure to commodity spot prices, through the use of stocks.

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

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 14.76 points to 12,962.81 Monday as investors reacted to a flurry of mixed economic reports at home and abroad.

Jackson National Life Insurance Company, a purveyor of variable annuities, is looking to offer its advisors and their retail clients access to alternative investments.

Russell Investments has introduced a series of indexes designed to allow fund managers to control volatility in their portfolios.

A new investment management shop has opened in Palm Beach, Fla., dubbed Crest Investment Partners LLC.

Nasdaq OMX and risk analytics developer Axioma have launched a family of indexes that will give investors exposure to commodity spot prices, through the use of stocks.

For many planners with high-net-worth minimums for their clients, target-date funds don’t make sense for a variety of reasons. But in the right circumstances, they can be helpful tools.

Wasatch Funds has launched what it touts as “one of the few no-load open-end mutual funds focused exclusively on frontier and smaller emerging market countries,” including Africa and Southeast Asia.

State Street Corporation has appointed Dick Taggart to the post of head of Middle Office Outsourcing Operations across North America for the company’s investment manager services business.