Mutual funds

In a survey of 1,000 people, Putnam Investments found the majority expect the economy to rebound in 2010 but that they are still planning to save more in the New Year.

AQR Capital Management has launched the AQR Managed Futures Strategy Fund to appeal to investors’ and advisers’ increased interest in alternative investments in the wake of the Great Recession. AQR funded the no-load fund, available to retail and institutional investors, with $10 million in seed money.

Bob Doll, global chief investment officer for fundamental equities at BlackRock, said U.S. corporate earnings growth—fueled by productivity gains, expanding markets in the developing world, low inflation and a declining dollar—should jump about 20% this year. As a result, stock prices, as represented on the Standard & Poor’s 500, should rally another 12% from their Jan. 4 open of 1116.56, he said.

Vanguard will pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accusing it of racial bias against a black financial planning candidate and overall bias in its hiring practices.

Investors’ aversion to stock funds and wholesale embracing of exchange-traded, bond and go-anywhere funds in 2009 may not be an aberration but a true turning point in investor behavior, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Wealth Hazards Worry Index now indicates that the number of people who believe the U.S. economy could enter another recession in 2010 now stands at 40%. Only 28% are confident a recession will not reoccur in 2010.

Calamos Investments, which has $30.5 billion of assets under management, has elected to make State Street Corp. its sole investment servicing provider for all of its U.S. and global products. As a result, State Street will expand beyond its current back-office offerings to provide custody, fund administration and securities lending services.

H&R Block has settled with the New York Attorney General over alleged excessive fees it charged investors it steered to its Express IRA. The tax preparer will refund between $11.4 million and $19.4 million to customers and pay $750,000 in fines and fees.

Chinese fund managers are cutting back on their equity exposure to an average of 86.4%, down from 88.3%, according to a Reuters poll. Evidently, soaring real estate prices has many investment managers expecting the Chinese government to impose monetary policies to curb the runaway prices.

A small Atlanta registered investment advisory firm is hoping to drum up business by offering personalized 401(k) advice, but analysts warn that drilling down to offer investment advice to retirement plan participants could be more trouble than it is worth.

AXA Equitable has introduced the Retirement Cornerstone annuity, a dual-track product that offers exposure to both aggressive growth and investment protect.

Long-term mutual funds took in $12.25 billion in the week ended Dec. 23, bringing the sales streak to 41 weeks and a total of $413 billion, according to the Investment Company Institute.

A number of executives at Saturna Capital donated their holiday bonuses to charities, the second year in a row they did so.

While investors have continued to steadily contribute to their 401(k)s throughout the two-year-long financial crisis and have kept 401(k) loans, hardship withdrawals and cash-outs to a minimum, there was, after all, a sudden surge in withdrawals last year, according to Vanguard.

Brokers are continuing to rush for the exits of large brokerage firms to join independent firms, putting as much as $5 trillion in Americans’ retirement savings in play and prompting brokerage giants such as Schwab, Fidelity and TD Ameritrade to offer technological and business enticements.

Besides emerging markets mutual funds, which delivered an average return of 72% in 2009, technology, gold and commodities funds were also winners, according to Lipper.

Emerging markets funds, particularly those focused on the BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China, were the top gainers in 2009, soaring an average of 72%, according to Morningstar data.

Forefront Advisory, an independent asset management firm, is using the financial crisis as an opportunity to scoop up laid-off and unhappy Wall Street talent, giving them a chance to strike out on their own.

Responding to a spate of scams, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has issued an investor alert regarding "green energy" investments.

Since the recession hit two years ago, 80% of mutual fund firms have laid off tens of thousands of people, as total assets under management dropped from $11.999 trillion at the end of 2007 to $10.688 trillion as of October. In line with this 11% decline in assets, fees have undoubtedly plummeted by at least $1 billion a year.