Investments

The best-performing mutual funds of 2011 invested in large-cap, dividend-paying stocks—putting utility, real estate investment trust, health care and consumer staple funds at the top of the heap.

Hedge funds will take in record net new assets in 2012, predicts consultancy Agecroft Partners, based on interviews with more than 2,000 institutional investors.

2011 was a tumultuous year, one that left most industry executives deeply uncertain about the future. The following predictions are meant to provide the industry with 10 key insights that should help clarify some of these uncertainties.

Hedge funds will take in record net new assets in 2012, predicts consultancy Agecroft Partners, based on interviews with more than 2,000 institutional investors. In 2011, hedge funds took in $67 billion, to reach $1.72 trillion.

The best-performing mutual funds of 2011 invested in large-cap, dividend-paying stocks—putting utility, real estate investment trust, healthcare and consumer staple funds at the top of the heap.

Granite Investment Advisors is set to launch its first retail mutual fund this week, the Granite Value Fund.

A 10-year low of new municipal bond issuance is what was on everyone’s mind in 2011. Last year, only $295 billion of tax-exempt bonds were issued, down almost 32% from 2010 when $433 billion was issued. It was the lowest amount of issuance since 2001.

Volatility, the fear of a second worldwide recession, continued aversion to equity funds and uncertainty over Dodd-Frank regulatory fallout-all headlined 2011.

Financial advisers will remember 2011 as "The Year of Volatility" or "The Year of Uncertainty," according to a survey of 200 financial advisers polled by the SEI Advisor Network.

As a client takes distributions, a money manager ultimately becomes more important than asset allocation as the sequence and volatility of market returns rises.

Here is to wishes for a successful New Year for those in the asset management industry and the investors it serves.

Three mutual funds that might do well next year all have one thing in common: they weren’t chosen because they were the absolute top performers in 2011. Instead, they were chosen on the basis of diversification, strong performance, level of risk and cost basis, said S&P Capital IQ mutual fund analyst Todd Rosenbluth.

As we embark on a new year, it may be prudent to consider three different absolute return portfolio strategies that may help achieve returns depending on one's outlook for the global economy.

There are fresh messages about the value of annuities—but don't assume your clients are aware of them yet.

Fresh messages about the value of annuities have started to flow from a variety of sources.

Advisors should tell their clients to think as much about risk management as maximizing returns.

Stocks wrapped up 2011 on a down note Friday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average shaved off 69.48 points to finish the year at 12,217.56. For the year, all the major indices finished basically where they began last January.

Three mutual funds that might do well next year all have one thing in common: they weren’t chosen because they were the absolute top performers in 2011. Instead, they were chosen on the basis of diversification, strong performance, level of risk and cost basis.

Trading on the New York Stock Exchange in the common stock of the parent company of American Airlines will be halted after next Wednesday.

Some encouraging economic news at home and abroad sent U.S. stocks higher Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial average picked up 136 points to close at 12,287.04.