Mutual funds

Buoyed by the strength of the long-term municipal market over the past 18 months, mutual fund assets have climbed to record levels, and portfolio managers have had little need to make major changes to their current investment strategies.

With gold seen as the place to be, BlackRock introduces its first gold mutual fund in the U.S., and shaves its gold ETF fees from 40 BPS to 25.

Van Eck Global Friday launched the Market Vectors Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond ETF, trading on NYSE Arca under the ticker EMLC. The fund closed at $25.45 for the day.

The Baltimore-based money manager reported that its profits increased to $158.5 million, or 59 cents per share, and net revenue rose 30.6% to $577.4 million.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday to propose limits on mutual fund distribution fees and provide more transparency for investors.

The AARP Financial mutual funds will cease to exist as of Oct. 1, less than three years after launching the funds to much fanfare.

The AARP Financial mutual funds will cease to exist as of Oct. 1, less than three years after launching the funds to much fanfare.

Two new Standard & Poor’s indexes tracking municipal bonds launched yesterday, paving the way for Vanguard to enter the municipal exchange-traded fund business.

Two new Standard & Poor’s indexes tracking municipal bonds launched yesterday, paving the way for Vanguard to enter the municipal exchange-traded fund business.

Every time you think you've got a handle on how to manage and benchmark the performance of the funds you invest, markets blow up and you have to start all over again.

Municipal bond mutual funds’ assets climbed to a new record total as they continue to command new money from investors in spite of low yields and a nonstop wave of bad headlines in the mainstream press over state and local government credit.

Target-date funds are more likely to be used by younger retirement plan participants who have lower account balances and have been at their jobs for less time, according to a study released Thursday by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Despite flat second-quarter results, Charles Schwab Corp.’s top executive remained upbeat about the remainder of 2010.

Despite the fact small-cap stocks have tumbled recently as greater economic uncertainty increased, the average domestic small cap mutual fund continues to outperform. So how come some observerrs are skeptical?

Morningstar says that Hartford needs to cut fees more to truly compete.

The hot topic in the media right now is actively managed exchange-traded funds. But given how relatively small the actively-managed ETF universe is compared to the overall ETF universe, this product has received an outsized amount of attention.

Demand for health savings accounts seems to be reviving after a long period of inertia that preceded the passage of health care reform.

Investors pulled cash out of municipal bond mutual funds last week for just the third time in a year and a half, despite a strong week for state and local government debt.

Just as the alternative energy industry will most likely provide lucrative investment opportunities, so will the overseas markets in the coming years, which is why Fidelity Investments is positioning its 20-year-old environmental energy mutual fund right at the crossroads of those two businesses.

Thesis Flexible is an alternative strategy fund that primarily uses hedge fund strategies and is already on the Fidelity and Schwab platforms.