Investments

When it comes to large-cap equity investing, smaller asset management firms are proving to outperform their larger peers in the asset class, according to research compiled by Northern Trust.

Waddell & Reed Financial reported third quarter net income of $40.5 million, or 47 cents per diluted share, up 21% from $33.4 million, or 39 cents per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2009.

The State Street Investor Confidence Index, which measures the actual buying and selling of institutional investors, fell 1.9 points in October to 86.2 from 88.1 the month before. In North America, confidence fell even more, by 3.2 points, to 84.9 from 88.1.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index increased slightly in October after decreasing a small amount in September. The index now stands at 50.2, up from 48.6 in September.

TD Ameritrade Tuesday reported that it attracted a record $34 billion in new assets in fiscal 2010 ended Sept. 30, an 11% increase from assets held at the beginning of the year.

Paladyne Systems has launched a new turnkey front-to-back office service for start-up hedge funds called Paladyne FastStart.

The new European Union hedge fund passport rule the European Parliament is soon to vote on, will permit all hedge funds, including those in the U.S., to operate throughout all of Europe’s 27 nations—but it would also subject them to the strict compensation rules.

Russell Investments has launched a new family of equal weight indexes that also manage for sector risk and are easily replicated for investable products. The indexes apply to each of the nine Russell global sectors: consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financial services, healthcare, materials and processing, producer durables, technology and utilities.

The new EU hedge fund passport rule the European Parliament is soon to vote on, will permit all hedge funds, including those in the U.S., to operate throughout all of Europe’s 27 nations—but it would also subject them to the strict compensation rules.

CMG Capital Management Group has selected American Independence Financial Services to managed the tactical fixed income portion of its absolute return managed accounts and Absolute Return Mutual Fund.

Fidelity Investments is making its single family offices services available to advisers serving this market as well as ultra-high-net-worth clients with investable assets of $50 million or more.

The company offers a way for advisors to gauge bond prices amid the retail investor market.

Increased bank-customer interest in variable products indicates a positive shift in their aversion to market exposure.

While many investors like the flexibility that the products offer, many still don't understand the product.

And emerging market exchange-traded funds will grow in tandem.

The Internal Revenue Service is kicking off the first round of audits of Build America Bonds and is asking issuers if any potentially related entities, such as pension plans, are buying their BABs, according to issuers and IRS officials.

The Women Advisors Forum opens Monday with food for this thought: That gender equality is the basis for intelligent investing.

Business owners are not planning to hire and most advisers are not expecting the economy to recover next year.

It isn’t every day that you get your opinion validated by the likes of Jeremy Siegel, the “Wharton wizard,” market commentator and senior investment strategy advisor for Wisdomtree ETFs. Siegel delivered a very bullish talk at Sourcemedia’s ETF 360 conference in New York.

NEW YORK—Growth in emerging markets has the potential to outpace the U.S. Baby Boomer explosion by 25 times, and as consumption and infrastructure in these nations builds, specialized emerging market exchange-traded funds will become increasingly viable, said Robert Lutts, president and chief investment officer of Cabot Money Management.