Investments

The ETF industry in the U.S. has finally broken through the $2 trillion milestone, demonstrating the product’s surge in popularity with investors. Through December 22nd, assets have increased 18% in 2014 from $1.698 trillion to $2.007 trillion based on positive market performance and net new assets.

As investors pull billions out of commodities, Yale University Professor K. Geert Rouwenhorst’s funds are still attracting new money. SummerHaven Investment Management oversaw $1.5 billion as of November, from $600 million in January, even as raw-material prices fell and its exchange-traded fund declined.

F-Squared Investments agreed to pay $35 million over U.S. regulatory claims that it misled investors about the performance of a trading strategy used by exchange-traded funds.

F-Squared Investments agreed to pay $35 million over U.S. regulatory claims that it misled investors about the performance of a trading strategy used by exchange- traded funds.

The pursuit of yield has driven both advisors and investors toward newer, more complex ETFs and closed-end funds — products that use leverage, employ derivatives, deal in options and futures, sell short and so on. When such funds are held in clients’ IRAs they can generate additional problems for advisors, creating tax headaches and raising questions about investor suitability.

BlackRock, Macquarie Group and Millennium Capital Management former employees are planning a Hong Kong-based hedge fund which will use computer models to spot trading opportunities in 13 Asian stock markets.

Clients should start preparing emotionally, as well as financially, for retirement at least five years early; Plus, downsizing your home isn't always a good idea.

Oil at $50 per barrel will almost definitely create problems for banks in oil-producing regions as well as Wall Street financial institutions that finance the sector. Analysts already forecast the price of crude will fall that low — the only other question is how long it might last.

When it comes to the ability of the U.S. government to finance itself in the bond market, this year will go down as as one of the best on record -- and dealers say 2015 will be no different.

The ideal investing approach should control downside risk while also achieving a reasonable rate of growth. Here are a few suggestions.

A financial advisor helped doctors who were facing increases in their health insurance premiums by better visualizing their full options; Plus, means testing and a higher retirement age are possible fixes for Social Security.

This past week saw a number of new offerings in exchange traded products and funds from Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, KraneShares and FirstTrust, among others. Also, Van Eck Global closes five international-themed funds.

Janus shares surged 43% on Sept. 26, their biggest one-day gain ever, after it announced that Bill Gross would join the firm from Pimco. Hiring Gross was the boldest step yet in an almost five-year effort by Richard M. Weil to attract new money and change the public perception of Janus, a firm still known primarily for its growth-equity funds.

Small-cap stocks often outperform large caps, but 2015 may not be such a year.

Advisor, beware: Funds that use complex, hedge style methods may not be appropriate for client retirement accounts.

The industry saw Bill Gross attracting $769 million to Janus, the global ETP market breaking an asset record, a prediction on how much of 401(k) contributions that target-date funds will capture by the end of the decade and a J.P. Morgan executive joining Wilton, Conn.,-based Commonfund as CEO.

Carlson Capital, a $9 billion investment firm, plans to start three hedge funds to invest in the debt and equity of energy companies after oil prices slumped to their lowest in five years.

The increasing Asian, Hispanic and other minority groups will have an impact on the development of products, services and training; Plus, more than half of American households may not maintain standard of living in retirement.

The president's decision to bolster ties with the island nation will likely give banks relief from sanctions, as well as expanded opportunities for money transfers and the financing of U.S. exports.

Investors have gotten more desperate in their pursuit of yield, reaching for ever-dicier products. What could possibly go wrong?