Investments

What portfolio management activities provide the MOST value for your time/money/energy/attention, and which activities provide the LEAST value for your time etc.?

Lots of strong returns, but many investors are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Recent reports describe 2010 as the worst year for bank-sold annuities in the past decade, so the 4th quarter decline in the BHC Annuity Index comes as little surprise,” said Andrew Singer, the editor of the index.

Equity funds net $1.2 billion.

ProShares has launched two inverse Treasury exchange-traded funds, the ProShares UltraShort 3-7 Year Treasury ETF and the ProShares Short 7-10 Year Treasury ETF.

Van Eck Global has launched the Market Vectors Germany Small-Cap ETF, which the firm says is the first exchange-traded fund dedicated solely to Germany. Van Eck also notes that Germany is Europe’s largest and the world’s fourth-largest economy. Germany’s GDP grew 3.6% in 2010.

Dreyfus has launched the Dreyfus Global Dynamic Bond Fund, a dynamically managed fund that seeks both capital appreciation and income by investing in bonds, currencies, derivatives and other instruments that provide exposure to these asset classes. The fund has no investment constraints and is not managed to a benchmark index. Rather, it seeks to deliver positive returns regardless of market moves.

The past few years have provided a stark illustration of the ability of markets to surprise. It may be that inflation is the next big economic challenge to make an unwelcome return. The limitations of the most popular inflation fighting vehicles are becoming too pronounced, and the risks from inflation are too real, for the status quo to continue to reign in portfolio construction.

“I’ve been guessing we’re in the foothills of a long 20-year rise with cyclical interruptions,” said Dan Fuss, who runs the Loomis Sayles Bond Fund.

A New York judge has dismissed a class action lawsuit against State Street as the sponsor of a mutual fund, saying that even though the mutual fund misrepresented its risks, investors were not harmed. That's because the fund correctly calculated its net asset value.

Lawmakers on Tuesday moved forward with two legislative efforts to overhaul the U.S. tax code, which would either halt, or threaten, tax-exemption for new muni bonds.

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index rose in March, its sixth straight monthly gain. Now at 100.9, it is up from 100.3 in February and has gained 8% from a year ago.

Moody’s Investors Service has lowered its outlook on Fidelity Investments from “stable” to “negative.”

Fidelity Investments has increased the size and capabilities of its London fixed income office, enhancing its ability to service institutional clients through Pyramis Global Advisors as well as Fidelity’s mutual fund clients in the U.S.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management has launched the Goldman Sachs High Yield Floating Rate Fund. It invests in below investment-grade, floating-rate loans and other variable-rate securities issued by U.S. and foreign companies. The fund’s investment objective is to generate a high level of current income.

Columbia Management has launched two absolute-return funds, the Columbia Absolute Return Multi-Strategy Fund and the Columbia Absolute Return Enhanced Multi-Strategy Fund. Both funds use multiple strategies to reduce portfolio volatility.

TD Ameritrade has opened its five fund-of-fund portfolios, the Amerivest ETFs, to include exchange-traded funds. Previously, the portfolios only invested in mutual funds.

John Paulson, the founder of hedge fund giant Paulson & Co., earned a record $4.9 billion in 2010 overseeing a fund that exited the year with more than $36 billion under management, according to a survey.

Twenty years of research shows that companies with the strongest earnings deliver the best near- and long-term stock performance.

The municipal securities market is beset by problems that defy easy solutions, academics and experts told municipal analysts Friday.