Investments

dividends_emerging markets_Forward Management

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.

They don't have the big-chip cache of the large-cap funds or the diamond-in-the-rough promise of the small caps, but mid-cap mutual funds have consistently outperformed both of those asset classes over the past decade and there's no reason to think that trend will end anytime soon.

Continuing a comeback after a difficult 2010, annuity sales through banks topped $4 billion in March to reach their highest level since exactly two years earlier, according to research firm Kehrer-LIMRA.

Exchange traded funds continue to gain in popularity with both retail and institutional investors but actively managed ETFs represent only a tiny fraction of the more than $1.1 trillion in assets trading in U.S. ETFs.

The schizophrenic behavior of the U.S. economy in the past six months has forced large consumer products firms to look outside their own empires for new revenue sources. Fortunately, most of them have plenty of cash to spend.

IndexIQ has launched the IQ Hong Kong Small Cap ETF, which it says it the first exchange-traded fund to focus on the sector. It will track the IQ Hong Kong Small Cap Index.

Robust Demand For Some Credits

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index for the U.S. ticked down by 0.3% in April to 114.0 (2004 = 100), following a 0.7% increase in March and a 0.9% increase in February.

Calamos International is now making its three-year-old Calamos Emerging Markets Fund available as a UCITS.

Palmer Square Capital Management, a manager of hedge funds-of-funds and customized alternative investments, had launched its first open end mutual fund, the Palmer Square Absolute Return Fund.