Investments

E*Trade has expanded its advice offerings with the addition of actively managed portfolios of non-proprietary mutual funds or exchange-traded funds. They will have a minimum investment threshold of $25,000 and offer a wide range of investment styles from conservative to aggressive growth. The service, residing on PNC Managed Investments’ platform, will also be automatically rebalanced to ensure proper diversification.

WisdomTree Investments Inc.’s top executives said the company remains focused on adding products, though it isn’t immune to a possible takeover.

Morningstar has acquired Footnoted.org, the terms of the deal undisclosed.

The company said it expects the economy to gradually recover this year.

Bruce Berkowitz, Morningstar’s Domestic-Stock Fund Manager of the Decade, isn’t the kind of manager whose moves make headlines, but they’ve paid off remarkably well for his investors.

Fee-based financial advisers are grappling with the fallout from the crash of 2008 and see tactical asset management as the way to navigate the current market, according to a survey of 750 advisers by Jefferson National.

More Bang Sought For the Same Buck

Reversal in equity markets sends funds lower by 0.50% from previous month

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index (ETI) rose in January by one percent to 93.2, the fifth consecutive month it has risen. However, it is down 0.7% from a year ago.

Many U.S. employers are increasingly losing confidence in their workers’ ability to save for retirement and, as a result, plan to step up efforts to help workers maximize 401(k) savings, starting by reinstating the match, Hewitt Associates found. In fact, 80% of companies that suspended or reduced their company match are planning to restore it this year.

BNY Mellon is hosting a web seminar for senior-level mutual fund executives on Wednesday at 1 p.m. on the impact of the new money fund rule changes from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Reflecting their deep turmoil during the past two years, the banking and insurance industries rank as the least trusted in the U.S., with banks recording the only slide in faith the past year, according to the inaugural 2010 Edelman Financial Services U.S. Trust Barometer.

OppenheimerFunds Chairman John V. Murphy has joined Korn/Ferry as managing director for the asset and wealth management sector of the global financial market.

ETF Securities, the largest provider of exchange-traded commodity products in Europe, hit the $1 billion mark in its four precious metal-based ETFs in less than six months, a milestone considered extraordinary by industry analysts.

New practice management tool leads list of initiatives.

Bill Gross, a perennial critic of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, also created a windfall profit when he bet against the semi-government mortgage giants.

The actively managed exchange-traded funds sector is increasingly going mainstream, and Grail Advisors is riding right along with it. Grail is aggressively expanding its product lineup, introducing two fixed-income funds that brings to seven its stable of actively managed exchange-traded funds.

An industry group developing best practices for 403(b) retirement plans is coming closer to streamlining these plans to make them even more similar to 401(k) plans, but first they will have to get everyone to agree to speak the same language.

Defined Benefit Plans Beat 401(k)s By More Than 1%

The actively managed exchange-traded funds sector is increasingly going mainstream, and Grail Advisors is riding right along with it. Grail is aggressively expanding its product lineup, introducing two fixed-income funds that brings to seven its stable of actively managed exchange-traded funds.