Investments

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?

Regulatory approval of Eaton Vance's non-transparent ETF has its industry competitors closely studying its offering to determine how its proposal succeeded where others failed, and whether they need to develop and offer their own version.

Seniors should discuss their plans with their partners and designate a family member to manage their bills if necessary; Plus, clients should put their bonus in a retirement account.

Money managers’ profits in North America last year surpassed pre-crisis levels, rebounding to $34 billion on asset and revenue growth, according to a study by McKinsey & Co. Profits were 18% above the pre-crisis peak in 2007 after assets reached $30 trillion. Profits at asset managers globally also moved past 2007 levels, increasing 15% to $65 billion from 2007. Assets reached a record $64 trillion last year.

A change in S&P Dow Jones investment classifications has the potential to change both the makeup and the perception of some dividend-focused ETFs.

"He clearly wouldn't be walking way [from American Realty Capital] if things were business as usual,” says Aite Group analyst Alois Pirker. “The optics are just not very good."

John Hancock Investments president and CEO Andrew Arnott discusses the strategic decisions the firm made as it reengineered itself following its 2004 acquisition by Canadian insurer Manulife Financial, the challenges facing asset managers in answering alternative investment demand and even potential competition from non-traditional players entering the asset management space.

Stung by poor returns and large redemptions, 889 hedge funds worldwide shut in the first 11 months of the year, above the annual average of 810 in the five years since the global financial crisis of 2008, according to figures from research firm Eurekahedge. In contrast, 56 Asia-focused funds had closed by the end of November, less than half the average 135 closures in the previous five years.

With ETF assets now poised to cross the $2 trillion mark in the U.S., industry experts discuss the rapid growth, innovation and market acceptance of exchange traded products in the last decade.

RCS Executive Chairman Nicholas Schorsch and two other top executives resigned from American Realty Capital Properties.

With ETF assets now poised to cross the $2 trillion mark in the U.S., industry experts gathered at the annual IMN global indexing and ETF conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., marveled at the rapid growth, innovation and market acceptance of exchange traded products in the last decade.

The net-long position in gold rose 31% to 104,532 futures and options contracts in the week ended Dec. 9, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. “We are seeing safety trade toward gold,” says Peter Sorrentino, a senior vice president who helps oversee $1.8 billion at Huntington Asset Advisors in Cincinnati.