Investments

Vanguard Annuity Access is designed for individuals seeking a guaranteed stream of income in retirement to augment their retirement savings and Social Security benefits.

Global volume in derivatives, however, is up 8.4%.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will kick off its much-awaited series of hearings on the municipal market this month, holding the first on Tuesday, Sept. 21, in San Francisco.

Ridgemont Equity Partners, a Charlotte financial sponsor, has been an active buyer this summer of companies worth $10 million to $100 million, and it has plenty of company.

The 10-minute, quick-hit survey rates asset management companies on how well prepared they are to introduce new products and enter new geographical markets.

The credit rating agency is seeking input from market participants on a new five-point rating scale that indicates how the funds might perform during market duress.

Moody’s has created a new five-point rating scale for money market funds to take into account factors that proved to be critical in the credit crisis, including: a fund portfolio’s underlying asset quality, ability to preserve principal while providing liquidity, susceptibility to market risk and the likelihood of support from its sponsor in the event of a “run” on the fund.

The creator of the highest daily value rider saw bank sales shoot up by 144% year-over-year in the second quarter.

Investors continue to stuff cash into municipal bond mutual funds, exacerbating a supply-demand imbalance that has kept yields on tax-exempt bonds near historic lows.

The municipal market sold off Friday, heading into the three-day Labor Day weekend with a third consecutive session of rising yields after weeks of historic firmness.

Investors continue to stuff cash into municipal bond mutual funds, exacerbating a supply-demand imbalance that has kept yields on tax-exempt bonds near historic lows.

Fidelity Investments has enhanced its custodial platform, WealthCentral, for registered investment advisors, so that it is now possible to create block orders from the portfolio modeling and rebalancing tool, as well as conduct searches more effectively.

Buy-side firms and other market players want to expand the scope of transaction reporting to comply with European legislation on best execution to over-the-counter derivatives and introduce position reporting for OTC derivatives as well.

In the past few years, a series of converging trends have combined to place hedge funds, separately managed accounts and private banks under greater pressure than ever before. First, firms whose clients include high- and ultra-high-net-worth individuals face a never-ending battle to hold innovative, well-financed competitors at bay. At the same time, internal management continually seeks techniques to boost the productivity of relationship managers while struggling to implement sophisticated, faster trading and processing systems.

WASHINGTON - A National Bureau of Economic Research study has concluded that while Build AmericaBonds have succeeded in their mission to lower financing costs for state and local governments, traditional tax-exempt bonds still offer more enticing after-tax yields to individual investors.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has given money market funds a reprieve from following an amendment to money market fund regulations requiring them to approve of the credit rating agencies they must use to determine whether a security is eligible for investment.

New report by Allianz says U.S. pension market is expected to see slower growth.

So will we have inflation or deflation in the next 12 months? I can say with some authority: Yeah, probably.

Things look up for the bank channel after a challenging few years.

Tax-free money market funds continued to seesaw during the week ending Aug. 30, declining $2.84 billion to $337.91 billion in total assets on the heels of nearly $600 million the previous week, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.