Investments

ProShares has launched the ProShares Ultra DJ-UBS Natural Gas and ProShares UltraShort DJ-UBS Natural Gas exchange-traded funds. The two funds are tied to the Dow Jones-UBS Natural Gas Subindex.

BlackRock has launched three mutual funds that invest in alternative investments, the BlackRock Commodity Strategies, BlackRock Emerging Markets Long/Short and BlackRock Global Long/Short Credit funds.

While the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 14.3% in the third quarter, many mutual fund categories performed worse, according to Lipper.

Litman Gregory Fund Advisors has launched the Litman Gregory Masters Alternative Strategies Fund, a multi-manager, multi-strategy fund that offers investors diversified exposure to absolute return-oriented strategies.

Russell Investments has launched four additional investment discipline exchange traded funds, the new offerings focused on small-cap indexes. Russell’s investment discipline indexes take indexing to the next level by aiming to mirror the way equity managers invest.

On the heels of the success of its Keeley Small Cap Dividend Value Fund, Keeley Asset Management has launched the Keeley Mid Cap Dividend Fund.

Brown Advisory has launched the Brown Advisory Tactical Bond Fund, a fund focused on total return that, using a quantitative modeling process to track macro movements in bond sectors, will invest in fixed-income products including tax-exempt municipal bonds, corporate bonds, U.S. Treasury bonds, Treasury inflation protected securities and cash equivalents.

Investors have pulled nearly $80 billion this year out of mutual funds that invest in U.S. stocks. That's the tally after investors yanked $5.5 billion from all types of mutual funds in the last week of September.

While the boards of directors of mutual funds are not responsible for managing risk, they still have a key role to play in overseeing investment and operational risks, according to a white paper just released by the Investment Company Institute and Independent Board of Directors.

ProShares has launched the first ETFs in the United States to provide magnified or inverse exposure to VIX futures.

ProShares has launched the first ETFs in the United States to provide magnified or inverse exposure to VIX futures.

Litman Gregory Fund Advisors has launched the Litman Gregory Masters Alternative Strategies Fund, a multi-manager, multi-strategy fund that offers investors diversified exposure to absolute return-oriented strategies.

Russell Investments has launched four additional investment discipline exchange-traded funds, the new offerings focused on small-cap indexes. Russell’s investment discipline indexes take indexing to the next level by aiming to mirror the way equity managers invest.

Brown Advisory has launched the Brown Advisory Tactical Bond Fund, a fund focused on total return that, using a quantitative modeling process to track macro movements in bond sectors, will invest in fixed income—including tax-exempt municipal bonds, corporate bonds, U.S. Treasury bonds, Treasury inflation protected securities and cash equivalents.

On the heels of the success of its Keeley Small Cap Dividend Value Fund, Keeley Asset Management has launched the Keeley Mid Cap Dividend Fund.

The John Hancock Investor Sentiment Index, based on a survey of 1,005 investors by Matthew Greenwald & Associates, fell to 10 in the third quarter, down from 18 in the second quarter. When John Hancock launched the index in the first quarter of this year, the reading was 22. To participate in the survey, respondents needed household income of at least $75,000 and assets of $100,000.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has issued an alert to make auditors more aware of the risks they face when auditing companies with operations in emerging markets such as China.

The TCW Group has launched the MetWest Unconstrained Bond Fund, a mutual fund with the flexibility to invest across a wide array of global fixed-income sectors.

Touchstone Investments and Old Mutual Asset Management have entered into an agreement whereby Touchstone will acquire the U.S. mutual fund business of Old Mutual, bringing Touchstone’s assets to nearly $10 billion. The deal will also add several new sub-advisors to Touchstone’s roster of fund managers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 153.41 points to 10,808.71. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index rose 2.69%.