Investments

State Street's Investor Confidence Index rose to its highest level since December, a sign that more investors are willing to move off the sidelines to capitalize on the market's recent strength.

The State Street Investor Confidence Index rose 6.8 point in May to 104.1, its highest reading since December. The increase was led by North American investors, among whom confidence rose 7.7 points to 106.3 from 98.6 in April. European investor confidence rose 5.2 points to 79.0 from 73.8. However, Asian investor confidence fell 2.7 points to 96.7 from 99.4.

John Hancock Funds has launched the John Hancock Hedged Equity & Income Fund, a closed-end fund that had its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. This is Hancock’s tenth closed-end fund. Wellington Management is the subadvisor.

The District of Columbia’s budget vote last Wednesday jolted local municipal bond investors who could see their taxes jump on Oct. 1 as a result of a provision to tax the interest earnings from munis issued outside the district.

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, the first toll road agency of its kind in Texas, is looking for yield-hungry investors willing to take a risk on $374 million of revenue bonds at or below investment grade next week.

Barclays expects Greece will be propped up for another year. Raymond James' Jeffrey Saut likes technology stocks. Vanguard is still bullish on money markets. S&P looks for funds holding consumer staples stocks that might do better in a U.S. stock market downturn.

Although the unemployment rate in the U.S. is 9%, three-quarters of broker-dealers and registered investment advisors plan to hire in the next 12 months, and they plan to boost their staff by an average of 30%, Fidelity Investments found in a survey.

FINRA has ordered Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch to pay up after providing faulty data and supervision of residential subprime mortgage securitizations.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose to -48.2 in the week ended May 22, up from a nine-month low of -49.4 the previous week. Readings of -40 or less are associated with recessions and their aftermaths, Bloomberg said.

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Global X Funds on Thursday launched the Global X Fertilizers/Potash ETF, giving investors access to what Global X calls a “critical” agricultural and commodity sector.

Outflows from equity funds totaled $25 million in the week ended May 18, the Investment Company Institute said.

The funds are tied to Russia and to global agribusiness.

For portfolio managers of municipal bond funds, the past several months haven’t been for the faint of heart. Still, muni fund managers report mixed experiences in riding out the prolonged flood of outflows.

Guaranteed living benefits were adopted, when they were offered with variable annuities, 86% in the first quarter, according to LIMRA. That was down from a peak of 90% in the first quarter of 2009, notes Dan Beatrice senior analyst, retirement research with LIMRA.

Direxion has launched four new leveraged exchange-traded funds, tied to the DAXglobal Russia Index and the DAXglobal Agribusiness Index. Each of the funds seeks 300% of the daily performance or the daily inverse of those indexes.

Global X Funds has launched the Global X Canada Preferred ETF, an exchange-traded fund that targets Canadian companies that issue preferred stock. The fund tracks the Solactive Canada Preferred Stock Index.

Cortina Asset Management, a Milwaukee-based firm that manages assets for corporations, foundations and pension plans, has put together a new equity team to operate out of its new New York office.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index fell to -49.4 in the week ended May 15, a nine-month low reflecting a pessimistic outlook among consumers as the cost of fuel and groceries continues to increase.

Russell Investments and Axioma have launched a series of long-only large- and small-cap factor indexes designed to help investors better manage their portfolio’s exposure to five risk factors.