Investments

Global X Funds has launched the Global X Waste Management ETF, which will evenly divide its holdings in hazardous and non-hazardous waste and recycling companies.

Seventy percent of 88 institutional investors surveyed by Northern Trust expect inflation to increase over the next six months and 62% are bracing for a spike in market volatility.

“Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.” Just eight words that have been repeated enough in mutual fund marketing materials for investors to tune out their message; or perhaps they have chosen to ignore the most important of those eight words, the word NOT.

Investors continue to pour more more money into ETFs, even as they shift their focus away from riskier Emerging Markets and into more conservative bond ETFs. That’s the news from State Street Global Advisors, which just released its latest Snapshot report tracking ETF funds.

Fewer workers plan to use their tax refund to pay off bills, and more plan to use it for savings, indicating stronger faith in the economy, a survey of 3,900 people by CareerBuilder found.

Escalating global inflation is the biggest challenge for businesses struggle to recover from the recession, according to the latest Global Economic Conditions survey of 2,300 accountants by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

Bankrate.com said there is a surprising amount of interest among investors in liquid CDs, step-up CDs, and bump-up CDs.

They are the Preferred and Income Securities and the Focused Equity funds.

GoodHaven Capital Management has launched the GoodHaven Fund, a no-load value fund with a go-anywhere mandate that includes fixed income and cash.

Destra Capital Management has expanded its lineup of funds that emphasize income and seek to minimize downside risk with the launch of the Preferred and Income Securities Fund, sub-advised by Flaherty and Crumrine, and the Focused Equity Fund, sub-advised by WestEnd Advisors.

Prudential Investments has launched three new fixed income funds: the Prudential Floating Rate Income Fund, the Prudential Absolute Return Bond Fund and the Prudential Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency Fund.

With advisors and investors focused on tax season, Ed Slott returns to financial planning with some quick answers on Roth IRAs, required minimum distributions, and what all this means before (and after) April 18.

Sixty-five percent of Americans do not know what a hedge fund is, according to a survey by Thesis Fund Management.

While most of the U.S. continues to endure sluggish or retreating housing prices and foreclosures still remain a persistent blight on the economic landscape, ultra high net worth individuals continue to fork over huge sums to garner real estate in most of the world's most exclusive enclaves.

Franklin Templeton, Loomis Sayles and State Street will be the sub-advisors.

Institutional investors and regulators are paying more attention to the sector.

For investment managers, the capabilities most in demand this year from retirement plans, endowments and foundations will be global and emerging markets investing, hedge funds, private equity and real assets, according to the 2011 Consultant Search Forecast.

According to a Russell survey, enthusiasm for non-U.S. equities has declined.

Standard & Poor's said that U.S. corporate dividend increases surged up 27.8% in the first quarter of this year.

Tax-exempt money market funds saw only moderate outflows as investors yanked a mere $252.5 million in the week ended April 4, causing total net assets to dip slightly to $319.05 billion, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.