Investments

As increasingly complex ETFs stake a deeper claim to investor assets, has the closing bell really tolled for large-cap stocks?

For the third-quarter mark (year-to-date), the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 5.74%. In its 113-year history, excluding the current year and 1914 due to a change in the number of components that year, the DJIA has fallen 44 times at the third-quarter mark.

In a new report, “Volatility Responsive Asset Allocation, Russell Investments recommends that institutional investors use a dynamic asset allocation policy that varies as market volatility changes.

Van Eck says ETFs can reflect changes in industry sectors, whereas HOLDRS’ depositary trust structure is static.

Vanguard is changing the investment process for its four LifeStrategy series from a mix of active and passive management to an all-index approach.

Vanguard is lowering the fees on six funds by adding low-cost Admiral Shares to them. Vanguard’s Admiral Shares program requires a minimum account balance of $10,000.

State Street Global Advisors has launched three new exchange-traded funds, the SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF, SPDR S&P Health Care Services and SPDR A&P Software & Services funds.

Scout Investments has launched the Scout Unconstrained Bond Fund, which will invest across the entire fixed income universe -- including investment grade, high-yield, governments, agencies, mortgage-backed, asset-backed and foreign markets.

The combined assets of the nation’s mutual funds decreased by $398 billion, or 3.3 percent, to $11.621 trillion in August, according to the Investment Company Institute.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumps 143.08 to 11,153.98 in a volatile trading session. Most of the gain came in the last 30 minutes of trading.

Scout Investments has launched the Scout Unconstrained Bond Fund, which will invest across the entire fixed income universe—including investment grade, high-yield, governments, agencies, mortgage-backed, asset-backed and foreign markets.

State Street Global Advisors has launched three new exchange-traded funds, the SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF, SPDR S&P Health Care Services and SPDR A&P Software & Services funds.

ConvergEx Group has launched a new division dedicated to the formation, performance and management of alternative mutual funds.

ConvergEx Group has launched a new division dedicated to the formation, performance and management of alternative mutual funds.

Long-term mutual funds had inflows of $386 million for the week ended Sept. 21, the Investment Company Institute said.

Positive results from its “Who Knew” advertising campaign have prompted John Hancock Mutual Funds to extend the campaign through the end of the year—with ads on TV, online and in print.

Northern Trust named Marie Dzanis senior vice president and head of ETF sales and servicing where she’ll oversee the firm’s FlexShares exchange-traded funds unit.

Northern Trust has launched a new family of exchange-traded funds called FlexShares. The four funds, which are trading on the New York Stock Exchange, are based on indexes created and maintained by Morningstar and Markit.

The State Street Investor Confidence Index increased slightly, from 88.1 to 89.9 in September, and The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had declined sharply in August, remained essentially unchanged during the month at a 45.2 reading.

The State Street Investor Confidence Index increased slightly, from 88.1 to 89.9 in September, and The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had declined sharply in August, remained essentially unchanged during the month at 45.2 ( 1985 = 100), up a notch from the August's 45.2 reading.