Investments

Investment managers rely on an array of electronic tools to execute the most complex program trading and algorithmic trading strategies. And brokerage firms and banks can pretty much communicate with their institutional clients electronically in a matter of minutes if not seconds or even microseconds.

In retirement, employees will need 15.7 times their final pay when factoring in inflation and postretirement medical costs, according to a study by Hewitt Associates.

A majority of online investors polled by web-based brokerage firm TradeKing have a more bullish stance on the stock market for the rest of this year.

New rules and technology, trends among Baby Boomers and the Great Recession have led to a burst in Roth individual retirement account conversions.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) suit against Goldman Sachs centers on the allegation that the Wall Street firm failed to disclose to investors the role an opportunistic hedge fund, Paulson & Co., played in choosing the assets underlying a CDO, before betting against it.

WASHINGTON—The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is preparing to take enforcement action against certain firms for selling municipal bonds to retail customers without disclosing material information, including that the bonds’ credit ratings had been spiraling downward, a FINRA official said Thursday.

PALM DESERT, Calif.—The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is in discussions with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to establish the first-ever licensing, training and continuing education program for operations executives at financial firms.

WASHINGTON -- Despite the enormous weight of proposed regulations bearing down on the financial services industry, mutual funds are taking the issue in stride, focusing on their core strengths of transparency, diversity and customer service.

WASHINGTON -- The $12 trillion mutual fund industry will hit record sales of 20% or greater in 2010, driven by continued demand for bonds, alternative investments and international equities, Strategic Insight projects.

Competition Critical for Lifetime Income: SPARK

PALM DESERT, Calif. — Shortly after the chief systemic risk officer of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation warned attendees at a securities operations conference Wednesday here that Greece's crisis was a systemic problem, the Dow plunged 1,000 points.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a nationwide inquiry into the municipal market that will lead to recommendations for specific statutory and regulatory changes to better protect investors, an SEC official said at the Investment Company Institute general membership meeting here Friday.

Donohue: ‘We are moving quickly.’

Add target-date funds to the list of headaches for advisers and investors.

WASHINGTON—The Securities and Exchange Commission is set to issue new rules on the use of derivatives in mutual and exchange-traded funds, Andrew “Buddy” Donohue, director of the division of investment management, told executives Friday at the Investment Company Institute’s General Membership Meeting.

There’s a move for more transparency in target-date funds, although some market observers are convinced they won’t solve the current problems.

WASHINGTON - Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro today said the SEC is embarking on a nationwide inquiry into municipal securities that will lead to specific recommendations for changes to laws and regulations to better protect investors and the market.

Investors gravitate to bonds, alternative investments and international equities.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is preparing to take enforcement action against certain firms for selling municipal bonds to retail customers without disclosing material information, including that the bonds’ credit ratings had been spiraling downward, a FINRA official said Thursday.

WASHINGTON - The $12 trillion mutual fund industry will hit record sales of 20% or greater in 2010, driven by continued demand for bonds, alternative investments and international equities, Strategic Insight projects.