Investments

DALLAS – As the subprime mortgage crisis unfolded in the latter part of 2007 and took its toll on the municipal market – specifically the bond insurance industry – one sector of tax-exempt mutual funds was quietly outperforming all other categories.

According to Morningstar, four formerly closed foreign small/mid-value funds have opened their doors to investors.

A little-known hedge fund was a big contributor to last summer’s subprime mortgage crisis, while the fund itself profited from its skillful swaps, writes the Wall Street Journal.

Early estimates for domestic individual annuity sales for 2007 show they are on a record-setting pace, growing 6% through the first three quarters of the year to reach $189.4 billion, according to LIMRA International.

As asset managers gear up for Baby Boomers' retirement years, Richard "Mac" Hisey, chief investment officer at AARP Financial, took some time out last with to speak with MME Senior Editor Brent Shearer about how investment firms are trying to reach out to Boomers.

The Treasury Department will begin offering Social Security recipients the option of receiving payments by debit card instead of traditional checks, signaling a further effort by the government to move toward electronic technology.

Hedge Fund Managers Add Billions to Bottom Line

Kenyon Switches From Goodwin to Dechert

In a move that could change the way brokers and advisers sell mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission has released a new report examining public and industry perspectives on investment advisors and broker/dealers.

Two lawsuits and two FINRA arbitration claims filed against the executives, directors, chief compliance officer, portfolio managers and independent auditor of three open-end funds and four closed-end funds managed by an affiliate of Memphis, Tenn., broker/dealer Morgan Keegan & Co., may be the tip of the subprime iceberg for the mutual fund industry.

Mutual fund assets reached $13 trillion in 2007, reaping $1.8 billion over the year, according to Strategic Insight.

Some financial pros say there is a possibility of a panic in the markets as the ongoing selling blitz hammers many sectors of the market.

Japan Looks to Overhaul Financial Regulations

Gemini Fund Services Foresees Clients' Twin Needs: New Solutions, Distribution

If space is the place for your managed fund investment dollars, one new tool, the web-based Space Foundation Index, may offer an intriguing perspective on the sector.

Seeing how the biggest story of 2007 was the subprime crisis, which only a few canny hedge fund managers foresaw, let's take a look ahead to potential news headlines for 2008. Who knows, we might even be as canny as the best of them.

Asset management firms are missing out-big time-on the benefits of Web 2.0 tools, such as blogs, wikis, mashups and social networking sites, by waiting for other firms to take the first step, kasina maintains.

The Department of Labor's proposed rules on 401(k) disclosure are insufficient, claim critics who say the disclosure isn't to the right people.

Goldman Sachs has debuted its second of several planned exchange-traded notes (ETN), the Claymore CEF Index-Linked GS Connect. The new ETN began trading on the NYSE Arca on Dec. 10.

It wasn't long ago that Eliot Spitzer, reveling in the glory of a national media frenzy for having shaken down Wall Street scams with a power not even the entire Securities and Exchange Commission could muster, hinted he might one day run for president of the United States.