Investments

Privately held Fidelity Investments 2009 annual report indicated a 5% increase in operating profit to $2.51 billion, up from $2.39 billion in 2008, excluding interest expenses and taxes.

Wyden, Gregg ­Address Munis

Privately held Fidelity Investments 2009 annual report indicated a 5% increase in operating profit to $2.51 billion, up from $2.39 billion in 2008, excluding interest expenses and taxes.

The International Organization of Securities Commissions, of which the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.K. Financial Services Authority are members, starting in September will ask hedge funds to provide high-level, bi-annual snapshots of: their stock and bond holdings, geographic and underlying currency exposure, leverage levels, sales and redemptions, investor classifications, primary marketing channels, recent performance, and operations and technology details, including turnover, clearing mechanisms and risk measures.

AXA Equitable uncovered a dismal outlook for the economy and retirement in “Retirement in America: A Survey of Concerns and Expectations,” in which it polled both investors and economists and found a large percentage of both groups bearish on the economy and the markets.

Long-term mutual funds had positive sales for the 49th straight week, taking in $5.68 billion in the week ended Feb. 17, according to the Investment Company Institute. This brings sales over the last 11 months to a total of $476 billion.

An average 24% increase in advisory, distribution and service fees fueled a 87% surge in Eaton Vance’s first quarter profits to $46.2 million, or 37 cents per share, compared with profit of $24.7 million, or 21 cents per share in the year-ago quarter ended Jan. 31.

A MassMutual survey of 1,000 of its retirement plan participants found that 75.8% believe the stock market will improve over the next 12 months. Only 7.6% think it will decline.

More than 800 exchange-traded funds trade daily in the United States. How can advisors choose? Two experts reveal what advisors need to know to successfully use these products.

A New York federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Reserve Management, its founder, Bruce Bent, Sr., and his son, Bruce Bent II, can proceed since the SEC adequately proved they committed fraud through misstatements and omissions of facts about the flagship Primary Fund.

Ask a broker why 12b-1 fees exist and you’ll get a variety of answers. The SEC's chairman said there should be greater transparency around the fees, which could be as high as 1%.

The Baltimore fund company is considering fixed income and equity strategies and is not planning on cloning any existing funds.

"Almost Hard to Fathom," Mier Said.

Sale would be part of effort to sell $715 billion in non-core assets

The investment bank buys the PE advisory business of the former Lehman jewel as it continues its global expansion; will more fund-raisers be targeted?

The Securities and Exchange Commission has received just over 200 comment letters since it posted its proposed roadmap for transitioning to International Financial Reporting Standards on its website in 2008, and it’s now receiving some extra suggestions ahead of its deliberations on the roadmap on Wednesday.

Spectrem Group’s Affluent Investor Confidence Index rose three points to negative-10 in February, returning to neutral territory for the first time since November. The increase in the index, which measures the investment outlook of households with $500,000 or more in investable assets, follows a two-point advance in January and brings the index to neutral from mildly bearish for only the second time since February 2008.

A “new frugality,” born of The Great Recession and two consecutive years of declining consumption—the first time since the Great Depression—is becoming entrenched consumer behavior that will persist for years even as the economy rebounds, inevitably reshaping marketing strategies for financial services and other leading companies, a Booz & Co. survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers shows.

Citigroup is looking to sell a hedge fund unit with $4 billion in assets under management to SkyBridge Capital, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the talks.

For anyone still not convinced that Build America Bonds are transforming state and local government finance, behold a municipal bond mutual fund that has filed a prospectus in French.