Investments

The 225 S&P 500 companies that share full reporting information received 46.3% of their sales outside of the U.S. in 2010, down slightly from the 46.6% they received in 2009 and quite a bit less than the 47.9% that foreign sales comprised of their total revenues in 2008, S&P Indices said.

As money market funds hold approximately $1.3 trillion in U.S. Treasuries, nearly half of their total $2.7 trillion in assets, investors would probably be spooked in the event of a default by the U.S. government and rush to the exits to redeem their shares. That is the dire warning from Fitch Ratings.

Aston Asset Management has launched the Aston/DoubleLine Core Plus Fixed Income Fund. Aston will serve as the investment advisor to the fund and DoubleLine Capital, which specializes in core fixed income, mortgage-backed securities, global developed credit, emerging markets debt and global asset allocation, will act as sub-advisor.

Putting aside the debt ceiling drama currently playing out in Washington and the dire predictions of what would happen to the U.S. and the global economy if the ceiling isn’t raised by Aug. 2, Goldman Sachs’ chief U.S. economist said that even if all that doesn’t come to pass, the U.S. economy will still slow this year and next and puts the chances of a return to recession somewhere between 15% and 20%.

AQR Capital Management has launched the AQR Multi-Strategy Alternative Fund, a no-load mutual fund that seeks to deliver absolute returns by investing in a broadly diversified portfolio of alternative strategies traditionally only available through hedge funds.

As the exchange-traded funds industry continues to evolve, marketing campaigns to support its growth must become far more complex and richer, according to a report from Financial Research Corp., “ETF Trends: Insider Insights on Distribution, Portfolio Construction, Risk & Regulation.”

Annuity fee income at bank holding companies (BHCs) shot up 28.4% in the first quarter to more than $748 million, according to the Michael White-ABIA Bank Annuity Fee Income Report.

AQR Capital Management has launched the AQR Multi-Strategy Alternative Fund, a no-load mutual fund that seeks to deliver absolute returns by investing in a broadly diversified portfolio of alternative strategies traditionally only available through hedge funds.

Institutional investment managers are becoming more cautious, with 42% saying they became more risk-averse in the second quarter, up from 35% in the first quarter, a survey of 100 managers in June by Northern Trust found.

Barclays projects that consumers will continue to drive U.S. economy. S&P targets high-yielding dividend funds. BlackRock forecasts slower, but steady growth in China.

With unemployment rates remaining staggeringly high and debates about the debt ceiling on Capitol Hill, Americans remain worried about the economy, according to a report from First Command.

Now that Standard & Poor's has issued a negative credit watch on U.S. government debt and acknowledged the possibility that no deal will be reached to raise the government’s debt ceiling, what should investors do?

Lawrence Summers, former director of the National Economic Council, recently said, "The central irony of a financial crisis is that while it is caused by too much confidence, borrowing, lending and spending-it is resolved only by increases in confidence, borrowing, lending and spending."

There is a new dynamic today between hedge funds, investors and hedge fund administrators, according to State Street Corp.’s new Vision Report, “Hedge Funds: Rebuilding on a New Foundation.”

Kinetic Concepts (NYSE: KCI) this week announced it has agreed to go private for $68.50 a share with private investors share include Apax Partners, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board.

There is a new dynamic today between hedge funds, investors and hedge fund administrators, according to State Street Corp.’s new Vision Report, “Hedge Funds: Rebuilding on a New Foundation.”

Eighty-seven percent of Americans with $500,000 or more in investable assets agree that the size of the U.S. government deficit is a major concern, a survey by research firm TNS found.

Charles Schwab is a bit late to the party with its new U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF -- but the company may use its brokerage platform to help even the playing field.

For years, PIMCO’s taxable bond Total Return Fund (PTTRX) has been a top-performer in its class, with five-star ratings from both Morningstar and S&P, five-year annualized trailing returns of 8.9%, and a manager, William Gross, widely respected as among one of the top in industry.

Assets in exchange-traded funds in the U.S. will double to $2 trillion by 2015, according to a new report from BNY Mellon and Strategic Insight. Non-traditional investment strategies, which currently comprise 30% of ETF assets, will drive most of this growth, the two companies said.