Mutual funds

Despite the turmoil in the financial services industry, some mutual funds that specialize in the sector have not only outperformed their benchmark but have delivered double-digit returns, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Investors dropped almost $44 billion into open-end mutual funds in July, bringing the year-to-date total for inflows to $171 billion, according to data released by Morningstar. Taxable bond funds were the overwhelming favorite, taking 59%, or $26 billion of July’s proceeds.

Since the market meltdown at the end of 2007, 51% of investors think about their finances every day, whereas before, only 27% did, Charles Schwab found in a survey.

The average 401(k) account balance rose 13.5% in the second quarter to $53,900, which was perhaps behind the trend for more investors to increase their deferral savings rate than to decrease it, Fidelity Investments reports.

In a survey of 757 investors between the ages of 35 and 64 with investable assets of at least $100,000, Phoenix Marketing International found that more than half say their financial situation is worse than a year ago and two-thirds don’t expect it to get any better for at least one year.

Sun Life Financial announced Tuesday it is planning its first U.S. marketing and branding campaign, to better enforce its name among American consumers and financial advisers.

After suffering stunning defeats across the board in 2008, equity fund portfolio managers are showing their mettle and proving their worth so far this year, with the average actively managed fund beating the S&P 500 by 4.85 percentage points, The Boston Globe reports.

Target-date funds are not only not created equal in terms of risk exposure, glidepath and performance but also in terms of fees, according to a recent report from Morningstar.

Investor confidence among affluent investors increased in July, according to monthly data released by Spectrem Group.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney became the latest firm to place restrictions on the sale of leveraged, inverse and leveraged inverse exchange-traded funds.

DST Global Selects Sarwal As CEO of Investment Biz

Big Money Placing Bets on Continued Rally

Despite this year's arduous business environment, independent RIAs remain optimistic, according to the results of Charles Schwab's 2009 RIA Benchmarking Study. In fact, 84% of advisers surveyed expect to grow moderately or faster over the next five years, with 35% predicting aggressive growth and 49% seeing growth at a more modest pace looking forward.

Political support for the Obama administration's regulatory reform plan is faltering, leaving many to question the Treasury Department's strategy for enactment.

The average return of U.S. equity mutual funds in the second quarter, a stunning 19.77%, was certainly welcome news, but it gave investors absolutely no reason to believe the stock market was turning around. After all, what fundamentals were there?

In order to survive this marathon recession, experts say fund companies will need lean cost management operations with the stamina to endure prolonged, stagnant growth.

Now that the global economy appears to be on the road to recovery, investors are gradually beginning to step off the sidelines and take on more risk, as markedly proven by fund flows. Money market fund assets surged to $3.9 trillion in March, but have since fallen back to $3.6 trillion. Meanwhile, investors steadily withdrew $259 billion from equity funds between June 2008 and March, but in the past four months, they have since have moved $50 billion back in.

Young investors may not have much, if anything, to lose in the stock market, but seeing their parents and grandparents suffer from the market declines following the dot-com crash and then the credit crisis over the past 10 years has taken a severe toll on their risk appetite, The Denver Post reports.

The average 401(k) balance is back at the level it was in 2004, according to a report by the Employee Benefit Research Institute—essentially wiping out the past five years of investing.

The average return of U.S. equity mutual funds in the second quarter, a stunning 19.77%, was certainly welcome news, but it gave investors absolutely no reason to believe the stock market was turning around. After all, what fundamentals were there?