Investments

High-income workers can contribute more than $30K to their Roth IRA every year despite contribution limits imposed on this type of retirement account; plus, how investors can use the drop in oil prices to boost retirement income.

Retirement calculators only give an opinion of the sufficiency of retirement savings and do not provide an accurate assessment; plus, what to do when markets tumble.

Advisors still have time to come up with significant savings for their clients.

The industry saw ETF inflows break a record, Russell Indexes liquidating a fund and mergers between asset manager service providers.

The tax and financial advantages of a charitable gift annuity are substantial, but sometimes oversold. Make sure donor clients understand how these annuities work.

Third-quarter sales of annuities receded to $56.9 billion, down 5% from the previous quarter and 1% from the same period last year.

Research into understanding the human element of investment decisions exposes a flaw that, according to AthenaInvest CEO and director of research Tom Howard, currently exists in active management: despite corporate advertising to the contrary, he says, most fund managers can only be active toward a certain number of picks and fund volume.

The soaring stock market this year has provided a boon for investors age 65 and over even more than people from other age groups; plus, sales pitches about annuities can distract savers from making an informed investing decision.

As a rout in energy prices spreads to global equities, investors are returning to gold to take cover. Assets in the SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest bullion exchange-traded product, rose yesterday at the fastest pace since July. The holdings are up almost 1% in December, snapping four straight months of losses.

Each camp offers sound reasoning for focusing on one practice over another, but what's the best strategy for client portfolios? Here's a look at how active and passive funds have fared in 2014.

Clients should estimate the amount of income they will need to support their lifestyle rather than determining the right size of their nest egg; plus, eight tips for people who will retire in 2015 and why 401(k)s are still a problem.

Fund managers need to focus on more than the strategies they intend to execute. They must also structure their funds and organizations in ways that address both increasing regulation and investors' concerns about the safekeeping of assets.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is weighing a bid for Frank Russell Co.’s asset management arm, a business the London Stock Exchange Group is preparing to sell early next year, people with knowledge of the matter said.

With investors increasingly looking to U.S. stocks and turning away from emerging market equities, many advisors are urging clients to rebalance into that sector. But each of the BRIC countries has its problems.

Decreased creditor protection for inherited IRAs will impact retirement planning next year; plus, the hidden pitfalls of collecting Social Security benefits from an ex-spouse and three dividend stocks for retirees to consider.

Concerns about an over-proliferation of ETFs, curiosity regarding how market demand will shape product innovation and questions about the direction of regulation are expected to punctuate discussions among those attending the 19th annual IMN global Indexing and ETF Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., that begins on Dec. 7.

Man Group, the largest publicly traded hedge fund manager in the world, will buy fund-of-hedge funds assets from Merrill Lynch Alternative Investments to expand in the U.S. The London-based firm will acquire the contracts to manage Merrill’s $1.2 billion multi-strategy investments, and will pay Merrill Lynch $2.9 million when the deal closes and 35% of the management fees generated annually for five years, not to exceed $30 million.

Bill Gross’s main bond fund at Janus Capital Group Inc. received an estimated $769 million in new money last month, bringing assets above $1 billion. His Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund reported assets of $1.21 billion as of Nov. 28. That’s an increase from $442.9 million from the prior month.

Are your clients prepared for the capital gain that many mutual funds are likely to pay out before year-end?

The new approach enables workers to know their income at a specific age based on their plan's current balance; plus, mutual fund firms acting as 401(k) providers that favor their own funds and how your Social Security benefits measure up.