Investments

The proposal would automatically deduct up to 3% of an employee’s salary straight from their paycheck and invest it in Roth IRAs, unless the employee chose to opt out, or chose to invest in a traditional IRA. This plan would be for employees who don’t have other types of pensions or retirement savings plans, about 80 million workers in all.

Among financial services firms well known to investors, affluent investors have the most favorable impression of Fidelity, Vanguard and American Funds. This is according to a Phoenix Marketing International survey of 850 investors age 35 to 64 with household income and investable assets, excluding workplace retirement plans, of at least $100,000 conducted this past November.

Following the financial crisis, advisers are most likely to recommend financial services companies they perceive as ethical and trustworthy, Phoenix Marketing International research shows. Conducted this past November, the Phoenix study shows that American Funds, Vanguard, John Hancock, Franklin Templeton and Fidelity command the most favorable impression among firms well known to advisers. In terms of brand recognition, advisers cited Hancock, Prudential, Vanguard and MetLife as leaders.

BNY Mellon has signed a definitive agreement to buy PNC’s Global Investment Servicing business for $2.31 billion in cash. The unit provides custody, fund accounting, transfer agency and outsourcing.

Ignores Other ARRA Programs

Ten struggling exchange-traded funds that have attracted less than $18 million, or 3% of WisdomTree’s $6 billion in assets under management, will be shut down on March 24.

Based on the strong performance Putnam Investments’ funds delivered across a wide variety of asset types in 2008, the annual Lipper/Barron’s Fund Families Survey has selected Putnam as the No. 1 mutual fund family of 61 offerings.

Financial Network, Primevest and Multi-Financial score key technology and compliance funding in Marron deal.

Based on the strong performance Putnam Investments’ funds delivered across a wide variety of asset types in 2008, the annual Lipper/Barron’s Fund Families Survey has selected Putnam as the No. 1 mutual fund family of 61 offerings.

Advisor confidence in the economy and the stock market rose in January, according to Rydex SGI AdvisorBenchmarking.

Macquarie Group has launched the Macquarie Mexican Infrastructure Fund, with approximately $5.2 billion in initial commitments from Mexican pension funds, Macquarie and Mexico’s National Infrastructure Fund, the latter of which, as a cornerstone investor in the fund, has made an initial commitment of $1.04 billion to $3 billion.

Waddell & Reed earned $33.3 million, or 39 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, an impressive turnaround from the $730,000, or 1 cent a share, it lost in the last quarter of 2008.

After plummeting 46.63% in 2008, real estate mutual funds outpaced the S&P 500 by seven percentage points in 2009, delivering an average of 30.34%. This year, however, managers of these funds expect only modest, single-digit gains.

Coming off a rough week in the stock market, industry economists look at the status of the global recovery—and the risks and opportunities that lie ahead…commentary from T. Rowe Price, Standard and Poor’s and GE Asset Management, plus this week’s report and corporate earnings calendar.

Affiliated Managers Group Inc. [AMG] announced Monday it bought a stake in a London fund manager as the Boston company continues to look to expand internationally.

The Rydex SGI AdvisorBenchmarking rose 3% to 109.68 from a month earlier. This is a 27% improvement from where the index stood a year ago.

To help the middle-class save for retirement, President Obama may have also given a boost to the annuities sector.

Bank of America's Merrill Lynch Wealth Management has launched a new U.S. marketing campaign, "help2retire___," to illustrate individuals' evolving retirement priorities and personal aspirations. Budgeted at $20 million, it launched last Monday and is scheduled to run through the end of April on broadcast network and national cable TV, as well as print and online consumer and trade magazines, including sister publication Financial Planning.

NEW YORK -- Online retirement calculators are usually so confusing or overwhelming that the average plan participant logs in, checks their account balance and then logs off without making any changes. Putnam Investments has developed a new retirement income twist it hopes will resonate with investors, plan sponsors and financial advisers.

After the recent massive meltdown, it's no surprise that 81% of registered investment advisory firms and 79% of brokers and advisers now believe that traditional asset allocation relying on stocks, bonds and cash provides insufficient portfolio diversification.