Mutual funds

As voters in Florida head to the polls Tuesday to decide who will take on President Obama in November, you can bet many will be have another kind of change in mind. On average, the S&P 500 has improved 14% in the fourth year of a Democratic administration. But this year could be much different, based on statistics so far for the Obama term.

The assets of the nation’s mutual funds were flat in December, gaining $12.3 billion. That worked out to a gain of one-tenth of a percent, for an industry that has $11.6 trillion in combined assets.

Hancock Holding Company announced that the Hancock Horizon Burkenroad Small Cap Fund, that uses investment research produced by university students, has received a five-star overall rating from Morningstar.

U.S. Retirement Market Projected to Hit $22 Trillion by 2016 The U.S. retirement market is projected to grow to nearly $22 trillion by 2016. That represents a 38% increase from an estimated $16 trillion mark for the end of 2011, due mostly to continuing market recovery.

Direxion Funds said it is is making modifications to its line of “buy and hold” alternative strategies, effective February 1, 2012.

Hancock Holding Company announced that the Hancock Horizon Burkenroad Small Cap Fund, celebrating its tenth anniversary, has received a five-star overall rating from Morningstar.

$10 billion of equities change hands each day in the United States. $4 trillion of currency changes hands each day, globally. Which asset do you want to trade in?

Custom target date funds are beginning to proliferate at the expense of their off-the-shelf counterparts.

State Street to Develop Actively Managed ETFs; Investors (Again) Lose Faith in U.S. Equity Funds; Citi, Research Affiliates Expanding Bond Indices

T. Rowe Price Group reported its fourth quarter 2011 results, including net revenues of $671.6 million, net income of $188.4 million, and diluted earnings per common share of $.73.

Federated Investors reported earnings per EPS of $0.36 for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2011 as compared to $0.45 for the same quarter last year. Net income was $36.9 million for Q4 2011 compared to $46.4 million for Q4 2010.

Janus reported fourth quarter net income of $35.7 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, compared with net income of $27.4 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, in the third quarter 2011 and net income of $65.9 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter 2010.

Invesco issued financial results for the year and three months ended Dec. 31, 2011. "Invesco’s efforts to provide strong, long-term investment performance to our clients contributed to the third year of long-term organic growth." said Martin Flanagan, president and CEO.

The chief executive officer of NYSE Euronext said at the Davos economic summit that he 'misjudged the process' that would be needed to get his company's merger with Deutsche Boerse approved.

The head of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations called for an end to private letter rulings from the Internal Revenue Service which have “essentially opened the floodgates” for mutual funds to speculate in commodities from offshore tax havens such as the Cayman Islands.

The head of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations called Thursday for an end to private letter rulings from the Internal Revenue Service which have “essentially opened the floodgates” for mutual funds to speculate in commodities, from off-share tax havens.

BNY Mellon has opened its first wealth management office in the Cayman Islands as part of an effort to expand the firm’s global capabilities to serve international clients, the wealth manager announced Wednesday.

The Global Investment Committee of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney said in its January 2012 market commentary that it expects not just Europe, but the United States, to slip into recession.

State Street Global Advisors is not only going to sell its own funds and partner with other asset managers that do not have the regulatory wherewithal to go it alone.

Investors pulled $484 million from stock funds over the past week, a reversal from the previous week when investors sent $1.42 billion their way.