Investments

On Feb. 14, Vanguard's 64,000 Facebook fans received virtual candy hearts with the messages:

Institutional investors continued the pattern established late in 2011 of reducing allocations to equities, according to results of the State Street Investor Confidence Index for February 2012.

American Beacon Advisors has added to its offerings two growth funds, one focused on small-caps and the other mid-caps, managed by Stephens Investment Management Group.

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.

Alternative mutual fund shop Direxion has hired Greg Blue to serve as senior regional sales director, focusing on the Florida market.

Advisors with clients who want to move money into real estate investments known as tenant-in-common offerings under section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code need to be wary.

This is the week that actively managed exchange-traded funds get their biggest booster shot since they first arrived, less than five years ago: Bill Gross and PIMCO get into the game.

Joshua Levine, a former head of the America’s institutional sales team at The Permal Group, has joined BlackRock to lead the firm’s public and corporate pension plan effort in the East Coast.

Hungry for healthier returns, more mutual funds are investing in commodities, commodity futures, swaps and options.

There’s a new authority watching over faculty and staff on campus at Wellesley College.

Value Line’s mid-cap growth equity fund, the Value Line Premier Growth Fund, recently won a five-star overall rating from Morningstar.

BlackRock’s exchanged traded-fund arm, iShares, has launched two new dividend equity funds focusing on emerging markets as well as the developed markets of the Asia/Pacific region.

Bloomberg introduced what it called a “step change” in its core business, known as the Bloomberg Professional market data service.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average trimmed off 1.74 points to close at 12,982.95 Friday while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 added 6.77 points and 2.28 points, respectively.

That amounts to two-thirds of the value gained in the past year. And was driven by interest in and appreciation of...domestic stocks.

That amounts to two-thirds of the value gained in the past year. And was driven by interest in and appreciation of … domestic stocks.

Dennis Sugino, president and co-founder Marina Del Rey, Calif.-based Cliffwater LLC, is retiring, as part of changes in the ownership structure of the alternative investment consulting firm.

Market Vectors, the exchange traded product arm of Van Eck Global, has launched a new exchange traded fund designed to tap into the growing oil and natural gas sector.

Aneser Named Chief Marketer at Lincoln; PIMCO Announces New Managing Directors; Pyramis Hires Jones as New CEO; SGSS Appoints Werthmann Sr. Relationship Manager

PIMCO Makes a Push into Equities; Credit Suisse Suspends High Volatility ETN; SEC Widens Probe of ETFs