Investments

Know what to pay attention to and what to ignore.

Investors pulled more than $125 billion from mutual funds that invest long-term in stocks last year, according to the latest data released by the Investment Company Institute. Of that, $5.2 billion got pulled in the week leading up to New Year's Eve.

Morningstar is no longer just looking backwards-focusing on three-, five- and 10-year returns. The fund ratings giant is now looking ahead to the future, as well.

Did you have the foresight to invest heavily for your clients in Pacific Investment Management Co.'s 25-year zero-coupon U.S. Treasury exchange-traded bond fund, one year ago?

Standard & Poor’s Capital IQ research unit said it has developed a method of forecasting negative and positive earnings surprises of a magnitude of 5% or larger.

Know what to pay attention to and what to ignore.

Amidst the worried debate over whether the United States will tumble into recession this year, market watchers agree on one thing: volatility is here to stay and advisors and their clients will have to be on their toes.

Amidst the worried debate over whether the United States will tumble into recession this year, market watchers agree on one thing: volatility is here to stay.

William Polk Carey, founder of investment management firm W.P. Carey & Co., died on Jan. 2 at age 81, the company announced.

Putnam Investments is laying off 78 employees, or 4.4% of its workforce. The layoffs, primarily in operations, follow a 3% decline in assets under management, from $121 billion in 2010, to $117 billion in 2011.

Direct Edge said it received approval to launch a market maker program for its two national exchanges.

The SEC accelerated approval of rule changes to allow the Chicago Board Options Exchange to acquire the National Stock Exchange at the end of December.

Stocks closed mixed ahead of Friday’s much-anticipated December non-farm payrolls report as the Dow trimmed 2.72 points to finish at 12,415.70 while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 mustered small gains.

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

If you've got the right asset allocation model, it doesn't really matter what large-cap equity fund you use.

Investors pulled more than $125 billion out of mutual funds that invest long-term in stocks last year, according to the latest data released by the Investment Company Institute. Of that, $5.2 billion got pulled in the week leading up to New Year’s Eve.

How a tiny, focused portfolio can outperform funds' benchmark indexes over time.

Investors added $117.6 billion to their holdings in exchange-traded funds in 2011. That is almost identical to 2010, when they added $118.7 billion, and 2009, when they added $119.4 billion. But the value of their holdings only increased $51.4 billion, because the value of their shares fell, according to the Exchange Traded Fund Association.

Investing in 2012 may very well prove to be the year of “risky business” because of the possible rewards and punishments, according to Prudential Annuities Chief Market Strategist Quincy Krosby.

Growth in exchange-traded funds fell to 5.1% in 2011, from 27.5% in 2010 and 46.7% in 2009, according to figures released by the Exchange Traded Fund Association. The category with the biggest gains: fixed-income funds.