Mutual funds

Bullion is big. ETFs are convenient. Since its inception in November 2004, the average annual return of State Street Gold Shares has been 18.72%. By comparison, the S&P 500 has returned half of 1% a year in that time.

Prudential Retirement is now offering J.P. Morgan SmartRetirement Target Date Strategies and Fidelity VIP (Variable Insurance Product) Freedom Funds in its line-up of target-date funds with a guaranteed lifetime income component.

BlackRock announced today that its iShares Exchange Traded Funds has launched five funds focused on commodity producers. The funds offer the benefit of access to companies involved in the production of commodities without the costs found in commodity ownership.

Ronald O'Hanley has emerged as an outspoken force inside Fidelity Investments, giving a speech on Thursday that touched on sex, drugs and revolution as he warned that young Americans face getting a raw deal from the U.S. retirement system.

FINRA has outlined its 2012 watch list of business and sales practices aimed at consumers, citing a challenging economic environment that would tempt investors to buy investments with promises of huge returns.

Investors displayed faith in all types of mutual funds for the week ended Wednesday, January 25, adding a total of $11.6 billion to equity, bond and hybrid funds, according to statistics released Wednesday by the Investment Company Institute.

Inflows increased 68%, from the $6.9 billion mutual funds posted the week before.

Franklin Resources a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton Investments ended the year with total assets under management of $670.3 billion, up $10.4 billion or 2% during the quarter.

An investment research and consulting company said it is releasing a suite of software tools for analyzing mutual funds based on the “three-factor” model of University of Chicago finance professor Eugene Fama and Dartmouth College professor Kenneth French.

Antitrust regulators in Europe stopped the merger of Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext on Wednesday, saying the combined group would have a stranglehold on the listed European futures market and would thwart new entrants.

NYSE Euronext said it would focus on its “standalone strategy,’’ while Deutsche Boerse declared this a ‘black day’ after the European Commission prohibited the merger of the two exchange operators.

Custom target date funds are proliferating at the expense of their off-the-shelf counterparts. That’s due to plan sponsors wanting to have greater control over what’s in a fund.

The 10-year outlook for the global stock market is likely to be attractive despite elevated market volatility, below-average growth projections and short-term interest rates around 0% in the U.S., according to the latest research from mutual fund manager Vanguard.

The 10-year outlook for the global stock market is likely to be attractive despite elevated market volatility, below-average growth projections and short-term interest rates around 0% in the U.S. That’s according to the latest research from mutual fund manager Vanguard.

Bennett Group Financial Services launched four mutual funds available through financial professionals, banks, brokerages and insurance companies for their clients. The new additions are the Bennett Conservative Fund; Bennett Moderate Fund; Bennett Growth Fund; and Bennett Aggressive Growth Fund.

Investment Guidance Solutions introduced a software tool for mutual fund investing, that gives buy or sell signals based on whether it is better to be invested in a specific fund or in cash.

Investment Guidance Solutions introduced a software tool for mutual fund investing, that gives buy or sell signals based on whether it is better to be invested in a specific fund or in cash.

Bennett Group Financial Services (BGFS) announced the launch of four mutual funds currently consisting of A shares available through financial professionals, banks, brokerages and insurance companies for their clients. The new additions are the Bennett Conservative Fund; Bennett Moderate Fund; Bennett Growth Fund; and Bennett Aggressive Growth Fund.

Fidelity Investments Institutional Services has been rebranded as Fidelity Financial Advisor Solutions. Lynne A. Goldman, its senior vice president for investment product management and development, talked with MME about how the business helps advisers help investors.

Affiliated Managers Group reports that for the fourth quarter of 2011, Economic earnings per share were $1.76, compared to $2.02 for the same period of 2010, while diluted earnings per share for Q4 of 2011 were $0.77, compared to $1.18 for the same period of 2010.