Investments

Fidelity Axes N.H. Workers

A Strategic Insight report released last week points out that traditional point-of-sale commissions for mutual fund sales are close to being extinct. Of all the sales in 2007, 60% occurred without any front-end loads.

The $1.6 trillion JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Tuesday it will hire 300 employees over the next five years to expand its fund services operations in Boston, and has started offering its Chase Strategic Portfolio, an advisory program for retail banking customers, through its bank branch network.

Market turbulence has been driving many investors to blindly rush to gold, but Franklin Allen and Jeremy Sigel, both Wharton professors at the University of Pennsylvania, have been speaking out about the risks of investing in gold, or even worse, investing based on sentiment. Wide price fluctuations don't make gold a good buy-and-hold for the long term, Allen said.

Ezra Zask Leaves Company He Founded for LECG Role

Big changes are brewing in the 403(b) world. For the first time in 40 years, the Internal Revenue Service is mandating new requirements that aim to make the plans more like 401(k)s.

Mutual fund and other financial services firms are making it easier for their investment advisers to address a broader array of clients' trust needs, ranging from estate planning to philanthropic giving.

NEW YORK - Although the summer has only just begun, it was "Back to School" last week here at a State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) seminar for financial advisers, on the finer points of exchange-traded funds.

NEW YORK - As the turbulent economy begins to calm down, investors will likely gravitate toward index-based, middle-of-the-road mutual funds, opening the door for opportunists to sweep up bargains, industry experts say. And the safer, the better.

The Securities and Exchange Commission doesn’t think there is a need for hedge funds to include certain derivatives when calculating how they report ownership stakes in companies, according to a June 4 letter.

As Citigroup looks to restore confidence and drive up its profits, rumors are circulating that the financial giant has received the first round of bids for its mutual fund and insurance sales unit, Primerica Financial Services.

Money market mutual funds assets rose by $18.06 billion to $3.520 trillion for the week ending June 5, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Wachovia Corp. says its retail retirement group is drawing assets by having advisers work face to face with customers at every income level to create a retirement plan.

Millionaires became slightly more optimistic about the future of the U.S. economy in May, according to Spectrem's Millionaire Investor Index.

Fidelity Investments is laying off 550 workers, most of them among its 5,700-employee facility in Merrimack, N.H., where mutual fund and human resource customers are served, according to various reports.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a pair of initiatives designed to strengthen its position in the asset management market.

Moody’s has placed the triple-A insurer financial strength ratings for Ambac Assurance Corp. and MBIA Insurance Corp. on review for a possible downgrade.

A new study released by Strategic Insight pointed out that traditional point-of-sale commissions for mutual fund sales are close to being extinct. Of all the sales in 2007, 60% occurred without any front-end loads.

Dow Jones Indexes was named the “Most Innovative ETF Index Provider of 2007” in the Americas at the 4th annual Global ETF Awards.

On Thursday, San Francisco’s Forward Management LLC unveiled its latest plan to acquire Seattle’s Accessor Capital Management LLC.