Investments

Who exactly is feeling so confident about the markets? Are they the same people who aren’t saving anything and failed a (very easy) financial literacy test?

Hedge fund managers found it a little easier to hang out their own shingles in the third quarter.

Deutsche Bank launched two ETFs for values based investors this week. Both will directly invest in a portfolio of securities, rather than rely on swaps, or “synthetic” index replication.

Equity funds lost $1.4 billion, while bonds had outflows of $1.66 billion.

Start-ups are benefitting from stronger industry inflows and increasing investor tolerance for risk.

The fourth quarter delivered the highest deal volume since 2007, said the accounting firm, which added that financial sponsor-backed offerings continue to drive IPO volume. Led by China, Non-U.S. issuers contributed 49% of quarterly IPO activity.

U.S. equities are the primary beneficiary of improving global investor sentiment, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers for December.About 44% of respondents expect the world’s economy to strengthen in 2011. And with the continuing problems in Europe’s debt market, investors are turning to U.S. equities, according to the survey.

U.S. equities are the primary beneficiary of improving global investor sentiment, according to a new survey.

Loomis Sayles on Wednesday launched the Loomis Sayles Absolute Strategies Fund, a flexible, risk-managed absolute return fund.

As news comes out of the climate change conference in Cancun, investors are eager to bet on non-fossil fuel technology.

After performance, advisers look for robust support.

“Incomplete monitoring and fractured reporting" makes it difficult for fund managers to see a complete picture of risks from derivatives, the U.K.’s securities regulator said in a draft proposal.

Investors pulled $4 billion out of long-term stock funds in November, according to Morningstar. Biggest loser: Muni-bond funds. Biggest winner: money market funds.

A change in the methodology the Federal Reserve uses to measure who owns municipal bonds has masked the growth in foreign ownership of state and local government debt.

The Financial Services Authority is asking fund managers to improve how they monitor risks involved with derivative transactions.

Ninety-six percent of institutional investors overwhelmingly believe Europe will be able to avoid a “full-fledged crisis,” according to the inaugural Barclays Capital Global Macro Survey.

Variable annuities outsell fixed, but overall sales figures are uninspiring.

The outlook of chief executive officers of leading companies improved significantly in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter, according to the Business Roundtable’s 2010 CEO Economic Outlook Survey.

State and local budget challenges will put pressure on municipal credits and will drag overall economic growth next year, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s semiannual economic projections released Monday.

Asset management fees for hedge funds, private equity, infrastructure and real estate have all fallen in both pooled and separately managed accounts, according to the 2010 Asset Manager Fee Survey by Mercer.