Investments

Market-linked CDs’ winning features are pushing indexed annuities off banks’ product shelves.

Annuity information company is a unit of Advanced Sales and Marketing.

The Hartford’s Canadian fund business is comprised of 18 mutual funds. The deal is expected to close in December.

Outflows among tax-exempt money market funds rose to $2.31 billion in the week ending Oct. 18, causing total net assets to recede to $327.99 billion, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Expert investors and analysts have been saying it for years: economies in the emerging markets have become so sophisticated that the so-called frontier markets are becoming the place to find richer yields.

For anyone born today, the cost of four years at a private college will be about $440,000 by the time they arrive at those hallowed halls.

Janus’ third-quarter net income rose 296% to $32.5 million, or 18 cents per diluted share, up from $8.2 million, or 5 cents per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2009.

The fund will hold fixed weights of gold, silver, platinum and palladium.

Northern Trust reported third-quarter profits of $155.6 million, a 17% decrease from the $187.9 million earned in the third quarter of 2009 and a 22% decrease from the $199.6 million earned in the second quarter of 2010.

ETF Securities has launched the ETFS Precious Metals Basket, an exchange-traded fund that holds fixed physical weights of gold, silver, platinum and palladium.

The online brokerage giant, which has been hampered for years by bad loans from its banking unit, has seen trading activity continue to decline as a result of the "flash crash."

Hedge fund's portfolio managers take control of firm from Morgan Stanley

Over half of American donors (55%) plan to maintain the same level of charitable giving in the fourth quarter, despite market uncertainty, according to a survey by the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, the largest donor-advised program nationally.

Low rates are causing investors to cash out of short-term CDs when they mature; banks respond by adding ever more short-term CDs.

The Palo Alto, Calif., based company, which will now be called Wealthfront, said that it has attracted more than $100 million in assets to its investing platform in its first year of operation.

The previous year, assets declined 23%, Towers Watson says.

Now is the time for a balanced approach to both equities and fixed income, MFS advises.

Industry pulls in new money for the third consecutive quarter

Investors with at least $100,000 to invest are sorely in need of guidance on fixed income risk, asset allocation and retirement readiness, MFS Investment Management found in a survey of 613 investors.

Aviva Investors has launched the Aviva Investors Core Aggregate Fixed Income and the Aviva Investors High Yield Bond funds.