Investments

First investment banks developed tools to act like hedge funds. Now their risk strategies are spreading to traditional money management.

Ultra-wealthy investors, with their $25 million in household net worth, might be a tempting lure for advisors who want their business. But any professional money manager who wants them as clients has to sharpen his or her knowledge about alternative investments.

Approach with caution though, Spectrem says, as 46% of ultra-rich individuals say they feel they could manage their investments better than a professional.

First investment banks developed tools to act like hedge funds. Now their risk strategies are spreading to traditional money management.

Tax-exempt money market funds posted only modest gains this week, increasing by $718.2 million and ending with $327.09 billion in total net assets, but that halted a month-long streak of outflows in the week ending Nov. 8, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Many investors think the expiration of the Build America Bond program would actually be good for existing BABs because the entire universe of taxable bond buyers will be fighting over a finite and relatively small pool of available debt.

The SEC should rein in the ABA's CUSIP Service Bureau and prevent it from charging financial market participants unreasonable and unwarranted fees, say three trade groups.

Surprisingly, most Americas (88%) showed understanding of diversification and asset allocation (79%) while flunking basic questions about other financial concepts in a survey for Northwestern Mutual.

Investors poured over $26.8 billion into long-term mutual funds in October, nearly twice the assets added in September, Morningstar reported on Wednesday.

Socially responsible investments topped $3 trillion, accounting for one of every eight professionally-managed dollars.

A couple of interesting surveys were released this week—and when mixed with some anecdotal evidence, they offer advisors some food for thought.

Kip Meadows, the CEO of Nottingham Investment Administration, talks about some of the trends expected for the fund industry.

E Fund Management, the second-largest asset management company in China, is planning to offer the nation’s first registered hedge fund. Along with a long-only mutual fund, the two will invest in emerging markets securities. They will be run out of E Fund’s Hong Kong office.

Investors are displaying renewed faith in mutual funds, Strategic Insight says.

With the continued growth of the global real estate crisis, debt from the economic collapse in the sector could be a diamond in the rough for the institutional masses, Mercer said Wednesday.

New money flowing into foreign equity funds offsets withdrawals from those that invest in U.S. stocks.

NEW YORK - The main driver for the global economy is coming from emerging markets, said investment experts at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney at a breakfast Wednesday on the firm's outlook for next year.

BlackRock has launched the iShares MSCI Russia Capped Index Fund, completing its suite of BRIC single-country funds.

According to Janus, the ending point of glidepath is just one of several mysteries surrounding target-date funds.

Industry groups are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to reject a proposal from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to provide it with an additional $17 million in revenue annually by nearly doubling the amount of transaction fees it collects from dealers.