Mutual funds

John Paulson, founder of the hedge fund Paulson & Company, made an unprecedented $3.7 billion last year by betting against subprime mortgages and the financial products that held them.

Envestnet Snags Ibbotson's Henkel for Retirement Group

State Street Corp.'s top executive said that the Boston company plans to focus on adding customers, developing business and products through its investment management arm, and expanding internationally, and that he remains cautiously optimistic for growth the rest of this year.

Standard & Poor's said the potential bill to U.S. taxpayers for bailing out Wall Street firms could grow to $400 billion. If Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are included, the bill could soar by an additional $1.4 trillion, for a total of $1.8 trillion, causing the U.S. government to loose its AAA rating and plunging the country into a deep and prolonged recession.

Mutual fund managers invested in securities with any type of credit exposure will want to know that sister publication Asset Securitization Report has learned that another major wave of $2.8 billion-to perhaps as high as $8 billion-in collateralized debt obligation (CDO) liquidations is set to hit the market.

NEW YORK - While the majority of economists now believe the U.S. is in a recession, market optimists are already looking ahead to the rebound.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Securities and Exchange Commission and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo are looking into possible irregularities in auction rate securities (ARS).

A number of news events in the past week alone indicate without question the U.S. economy is at a dangerous inflection point, but so far, no one-no economist, analyst, fund manager, regulator, legislator, president or CEO-is willing to put together the pieces to talk about something other than snapshot first-quarter, year-over-year or historical trendline data that make a case for the return of the markets.

On the heels of its $328 million loss in the first quarter, down from a $81 million profit in the first quarter of 2008, American Airlines' parent company, AMR Corp., Fort Worth, Tex., announced on Wednesday it is unloading 90% of its American Beacon Advisors investment management unit for $480 million in cash.

NEW YORK - The financial sector took a beating in the first quarter, but financial "bottom feeders" will speed its recovery, possibly ahead of the rest of the market, experts said here at a gathering of researchers and data providers.

AIG Investments is expanding its Global Business Development team in the U.S. and Europe with the addition of three executive positions.

Citigroup has hired Thomas Flexner as global head of real estate. Flexner comes to Citi from Bear Stearns, where he recently served as vice chairman overseeing commercial real estate and the financial buyers group.

Odyssey Investment Partners LLC has announced several promotions within its investment team.

Standard & Poor’s said the potential bill to U.S. taxpayers for bailing out Wall Street firms could grow to $400 billion, reports The Washington Times.

Russell Investments has launched “LifePoints Funds, Target Distribution Strategies,” a series of multi-manager funds designed specifically for the “decumulation” phase.

Gen Xers are stressed out about the prospect of retirement, with only 31% of them believing they will be able to retire from the workforce.

Mike Henkel, the former president of Ibbotson Associates, has joined Envestnet as managing director of the firm’s new retirement services group.

Citigroup Inc. is building an advisory unit to focus on "emerging affluent" customers, or those with under $500,000 of investable assets.

Former Fed Vice Chair Joins TIAA-CREF

In times of market volatility, many people call their fund manager, their broker or their banker to find out what's going on and how they should adjust their portfolios. But fund executives say that the subprime crisis, so far, has not led to knee-jerk decisions.