Investments

Affluent investors are very much in tune with the state of the nation, and except for some attractive stock valuations, they don’t like what they see. These was the main finding of a survey that Fidelity Investments took of 3,000 affluent investors, polling them in person or via a webinar at an Inside/Out Roundtable at 85 Fidelity Investor Centers nationwide.

Alabama issuers should not see their ratings lowered by the Jefferson County bankruptcy action, but investor perception could take its toll on future issues.

Investors may be fleeing from mutual funds that invest in U.S. stocks for the long haul. But that does not mean they’re fleeing U.S. stock funds.

Retail reaction to the announcement that Jefferson County, Ala., filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history is likely to be muted, yet will still be closely monitored, portfolio managers say.

Fidelity Investments has introduced two new emerging markets funds, the Fidelity Total Emerging Markets Fund and the Fidelity Emerging Markets Discovery Fund. The first fund invests in equities and bonds, the second in small- and mid-cap stocks.

Fidelity Investments has introduced two new emerging markets funds, the Fidelity Total Emerging Markets Fund and the Fidelity Emerging Markets Discovery Fund. The first fund invests in equities and bonds, the second in small- and mid-cap stocks.

The Insured Retirement Institute said third-quarter annuity sales rose to $57 billion in the third quarter, up 5% from the year-ago period. Sales year-to-date were $175.4 billion, up from $163.1 billion in 2010.

NYSE Euronext said the volume of stock trading it handled in the United States dropped again in October, after peaking in August.

More than $1.2 trillion has been redeemed from equity mutual funds since September 2008, and retail outflows year-to-date through September have surpassed $89 billion—on pace to be greater than all of the money that fled mutual funds in 2008, said Ron O’Hanley, president of asset management and corporate services at Fidelity Investments.

"Emerging markets are just a niche asset class” persistently remains as one of the five biggest myths about investing in emerging markets, said John Flint, chief executive officer of HSBC Global Asset Management.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 389.24 points to 11780.94 as investors grew concerned about the Euro zone. Stocks had the largest points and percentage drop in seven weeks.

BOSTON—“Emerging markets are just a niche asset class” persistently remains as one of the five biggest myths about investing in emerging markets, said John Flint, chief executive officer of HSBC Global Asset Management.

A pan-African commodity and derivatives exchange said it will open in the middle of next year.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney has three words for asset managers specializing in registered alternative investment products: Bring it on.

"Investors are running scared, from fear to fear,” said Brad Durham, managing director of EPFR, a global fund tracking firm, during an address at the Fund Forum USA’s Global Fund Distribution Summit.

BOSTON—Morgan Stanley Smith Barney has three words for asset managers specializing in registered alternative investment products: Bring it on.

NEW YORK-- Stifel Financial Corp. Chairman, President and Chief Executive Ronald Kruszewski urged pessimistic members of the financial services industry to go back and read a 1979 BusinessWeek article titled “Death of Equities."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 101.79 points to 12170.18 Tuesday. The Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index rose 150.95 points to 13242.81. Stocks were lifted after news that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he would resign after a budget law is approved.

Nasdaq OMX Group and a unit of Canada’s TMX Group said they are developing a family of capital markets indices based on U.S. Treasury instruments that will be rebalanced daily, instead of monthly.

"The greatest stimulus package in the world is certainty. For the past two years we have not had certainty," Bob Reynolds, president and chief executive of Putnam Investments told the Fund Forum USA’s Global Fund Distribution Summit here Tuesday.