Investments

Global Expansion Keeps CFOs Optimistic Participants in the 2013 Bank of America Merrill Lynch CFO Outlook Mid-Year Update gave the U.S. economy an average score of 58 out of 100. This figure was up from 49 in the last survey conducted late last year. The global economy received a score of 51, up from 45.

The Treasury Department said it expects to borrow $209 billion in the third quarter and end with a $95 billion cash balance.

Since 2008, investors have sought new investment strategies less affected by market downturns. At the same time, many hedge fund managers who survived the collapse with positive returns are looking to expand their offerings to the retail market. Adding budget cuts and new regulations to the mix creates a recipe for potential problems.

Jim Atkinson leads Guinness Atkinson Asset Management, which has $359 million in assets under management, a staff of 20 and an offering of eight no-load mutual funds.

Legg Mason announced that it has appointed Dennis M. Kass, an industry veteran, as non-executive Chairman of the Board.

Hedge fund managers now no longer have to hide behind their websites because they are free to advertise openly to investors who meet their investment requirements courtesy of President Obama's JOBS Act

Highland Capital Management had a rough ride after the 2008 crisis, logging four years of outflows from its funds. In June 2012, ING and Ivy funds alum, Brad Ross, wasbrought onboard as president.

Equities continue their climb, notching gains of 15.7% so far this year, as measured by the S&P 500. This comes after a 13% gain last year. Against that backdrop, we asked Morningstar to rank the top mutual funds in the U.S. for the past 12 months. We limited it to open-end funds that have at least $100 million in assets and that have been in business for at least five years.

Vanguard’s exchange-traded funds continue to increase in popularity among investors in the United States, the company reported today.

A federal funds rate stuck near zero means cash will continue to deliver negative real returns for some time. Who in their right mind, the standard Wall Street taunt goes, would own cash when it’s a guaranteed losing proposition?

Conventional wisdom has it that today’s low investment yields tend to harm low-income retirees, who receive little or nothing from the bank accounts and bonds they had counted on for spending money. That’s certainly the case, but a recent study from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) found that low yields have even more impact on younger workers as well as on people with high incomes. Agreeing with those conclusions, Barton Close, vice president of investments, in the Chattanooga office of Raymond James & Associates, told On Wall Street, “Those low yields have turned around my strategies 180 degrees. Now I put more focus on current cash flow.”

One of the leading contenders to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, Lawrence Summers, has been a paid consultant to Citigroup and other financial institutions, which opponents of his nomination are likely to focus on.

A replacement for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will not be named by President Obama until this fall according to a senior White House official.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch launched Monday an analytics dashboard aimed at helping treasurers handle their cash.

Former UBS AG executive Peter Ghavami was sentenced to 18 months in prison for rigging what should have been competitive bids to handle municipal-bond investment deals.

Goldman Sachs portfolio manager and executive Donald J. Mulvihill Jr. died on July 19 at age 56 in the Chicago area.

Federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against SAC Capital on Thursday. Dubbing SAC “a veritable magnet of market cheaters,” authorities argued that the company allowed a “systematic” insider trading scheme to play out between 1999 to 2010. It is deemed that the scheme generated profits for the firm in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Asset management mergers and acquisitions are on the rise and all signs are pointing to another healthy year for deal activity.

During the first quarter of 2013, banks generated $790.7 million in annuity sales, up 1.2% from $781.7 million in the same quarter last year.

Many large managers of municipal bond funds with Detroit paper said they haven't heard any panic from their investing clients since the city filed for bankruptcy and many of their funds have lost value.