Mutual funds

Iran will get its first index exchange- traded fund tomorrow with the instrument’s creator betting on growing foreign demand for the nation’s stocks as it nears a deal to end sanctions over its nuclear program.

Buy an index fund and let the bull market guide you to a 44% gain. Most money managers who actually pick stocks couldn't match the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, let alone beat it. Thanks to three weeks of volatility, that’s beginning to change.

Defense in the cyberworld is difficult. The invisible duplication of information is intrinsic to computerized systems. Adding to this complexity, we now use global-spanning IT systems with numerous known and unknown dependencies.

PRIMECAP, Dodge and Cox, Western Asset and Boston Partners are the latest winners of the Morningstar U.S. Fund Manager of the Year awards.

Deborah Fuhr, a veteran ETF industry observer, says the explosive growth of ETFs is vindication for a product once dismissed by some investment professionals. In a discussion with Money Management Executive, Fuhr outlines factors that have led to the market's enthusiastic acceptance of ETFs.

The top regulator of mutual funds, private equity and hedge funds at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will step down later this month.

As digital strategies move to the forefront, asset management firms are changing the way they think about their brands, how they communicate their offerings to potential clients - and the teams building that marketing outreach.

BlackRock’s chief executive officer has warned the retreat of banks as counterparties in credit will create severe volatility. Regulators are preparing new rules for mutual funds to ensure that a sudden stampede out of funds won’t result in a downward price spiral that threatens the financial system.

Federal authorities are considering expanded regulation of large mutual fund companies, a move that opponents say threatens to bleed value out of the fund industry and aims to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

The industry in 2014 saw Pimco bleed billions after the abrupt departure of Bill Gross in September, while BlackRock reaped the benefits of that disarray. BlackRock's iShares ETFs captured $102.8 billion in investments in 2014. Also, Vanguard announced it would offer its first ETF focused on the $3.6 trillion U.S. municipal bond market, and a Cerulli study detailed the state of the annuities market.

Pimco will fight a lawsuit by a shareholder of its Total Return Fund alleging the company gouges investors with excessive advisory fees to support billion-dollar bonuses for top executives.

Dimensional is among a small group of managers toppling the dominance of firms such as Fidelity Investments and Capital Group, which have built their reputations on picking individual stocks. Among the fastest-growing U.S. mutual fund firms after assets surged almost six-fold in the past decade, Dimensional attracted almost $28 billion in new money in 2014.

Bill Gross said he was fired from Pimco, the first time he’s publicly confirmed that he was dismissed from the firm he co-founded in 1971.

As federal regulators consider extending bank-like oversight to asset managers, industry officials warn of adverse effects for investors.

Bill Gross said he was fired from Pimco, the first time he's publicly confirmed that he was dismissed from the firm he co-founded in 1971.

Investors may be able to generate extra returns (without extra risk) by betting on unpopular equities. Here’s how.

At the SourceMedia MDM & Data Governance Summit in New York, TIAA-CREF, along with Princeton, N.J.,-based Global IDs, a technology firm that provides companies methods to manage their information, discussed the challenges of the big data problem and finding answers.

Four ETP launches in 2014 crossed the $250 million asset milestone before the end of the year, while five ETPs launched in 2014 were closed before the end of the year.

Pacific Investment Management Co., the firm that has been pushing into equities since 2009, is expanding its stock offerings by adding seven new strategies with Robert Arnott’s Research Affiliates.

Many firms manage the distribution of summary prospectuses and upkeep of the related websites in-house via a painstaking manual process. However, these firms may not be aware of how much this effort is costing them and whether they are truly complying with Rule 498 and delivering a positive investor experience.