Investments

Chief executives are feeling optimistic about the U.S. economy over the next 12 months for the first time since the second quarter of 2007, with CEOs of private companies with international operations being slightly more optimistic than those that are only domestic.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--Banks expect hybrid annuities with long-term-care riders to be the next hot product on brokerage platforms, as soon as product providers ramp up their offerings in this area, a Kehrer-Limra executive said.

The San Francisco discount brokerage firm reported that its daily average client trades in May increased 14% from a year earlier and 17% from a month earlier.

A total of 102 funds of hedge funds closed in the first quarter, the seventh quarter in a row that fund liquidations exceeded new launches, according to Hedge Fund Research’s HFR Market Microstructure Industry Report.

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Don's Miss Money Management Executive's JPMorgan News in This Week's Issue: http://www.mmexecutive.com/issues/18_23/jpmorgan-beefs-up-bond-fund-business-207063-1.html

A small handful of funds are making it easier for individual investors to invest in IPOs.

BB&T Corp.'s mutual fund family has had a dramatic gain in assets over the past year, and the bank's asset management arm is laying the groundwork for more expansion.

Biggest drop is a 21 BPS reduction on the Market Vectors Vietnam ETF.

Household ownership of municipal bonds catapulted over the $1 trillion mark for the first time ever in the first quarter of 2010. Meanwhile, foreign investors seeking a greater footprint in the municipal market via taxable Build America Bonds held $71.9 billion in their largest-ever presence in the market, according to new Federal Reserve data released yesterday.

Many troubled banks are pleading with investors to sell trust-preferred securities back to them at a discount, warning they may fail otherwise. But a small group of investors are calling the banks' requests a bluff.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney’s battle with Merrill Lynch is heating up as both firms sweeten their recruitment packages.

This year's stock market volatility has caught some investors off guard, causing them to pull money out of international mutual funds.

WASHINGTON — Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd Wednesday endorsed a proposal to force banks to spin off their derivatives desks, saying Sen. Blanche Lincoln's primary win this week had increased odds some form of it would be in the final regulatory reform bill.

New tool aims to give broker-dealers and their advisors clarity over fees.

Aiming to strengthen its specialty public finance business, Minneapolis-based Piper Jaffray & Co. continues to expand its coverage with four new hires and two new offices.

Dealers are calling for the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to revise and clarify several aspects of draft interpretive guidance that outlines the steps they must take to ensure the prices they charge customers when buying and selling municipal securities are fair and reasonable.

Municipal issuers are overreacting to recent developments surrounding the compliance program for Build America Bonds, a Treasury official said yesterday in an effort to tamp down ongoing concerns.

Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc. announced Tuesday Clayton G. Deutsch will succeed Timothy L. Vaill as chief executive officer and president on July 31.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing a concept release on proxy firms and their OBO/NOBO (“non-objecting beneficial owners”) systems, Chairman Mary Schapiro recently told the Business Roundtable. The SEC aims to revise the proxy access rule by 2011.