Mutual funds

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.

Hedge Fund Managers Have Rough Month

NEW YORK - Equity mutual funds were hit with "drastic declines" across-the-board in just about every sector and style in the first quarter of 2008.

Consumer confidence in the economy, including stocks, bonds, mortgages, credit cards and structured products, is dropping, but experts say consumers need to stay invested in a fully diversified portfolio of mutual funds for their own good and for the good of the economy.

While criticisms abound as to who, or which regulatory entity, or set of laws and oversight, is to blame for the credit crisis, the Securities and Exchange Commission is quietly flexing new muscle of its own on the mutual fund trading scandal front.

NEW YORK - The Transamerica Small/Mid Cap Value Fund was recognized as the best small-cap core fund at the annual Lipper Fund Awards dinner here last Wednesday.

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 on Thursday night.

Barclays has launched the Premier Fixed Income Fund in Singapore, aiming to provide retail investors with the potential for returns of 7% per annum.

Net inflows into Japanese mutual funds dropped by about 26% in 2007, according to the Nikkei Report.

The Transamerica Small/Mid Cap Value Fund was recognized as the best small-cap core fund at the annual Lipper Fund Awards dinner Wednesday in New York City.

The global credit crisis remains a significant threat to economic growth, despite recent improvement, according to the International Monetary Fund.