News
And what about the ridiculous cost of animal feed? Maybe the pigs, cows and chickens are eating more than they used to, but none of it has any bearing or relationship to world events or anything else ...
If location, location, location is the main criteria when it comes to investing in real estate, then timing, timing and timing might be the most important ingredient when it comes to launching new exc...
The fund measures the market performance of large- and mid-capitalization stocks of companies located around the world and includes approximately 2,900 stocks of companies located in 47 countries, inc...
Three of the funds will follow specific equity themes: Clean energy, nuclear power and timber/forestry. The funds will follow Standard & Poor’s-designed indexes and charge annual expense ratios of 0.4...
If you think the menu of exchange-traded funds has gotten big, you should take a gander at exchange-traded notes. The number of notes has jumped to around 80, up from just a handful of choices a few y...
Frontier markets generally cover the least developed countries within emerging market economies. The stocks from these tiny nations are subject to a range of unique risks including political instabili...
One of the top-notch advisory firms profiled in our annual Winner’s Circle cover story manages a tantalizing $700 million in assets under management; another of the firms adds a cool billion to that. ...
After breaking the $1,000-an-ounce barrier during the spring, gold’s seemingly invincible run has hit a brick wall. The price of this storied yellow metal has been steadily sliding over the past few m...
The redesigned HealthShares suite of ETFs will include four of the current HealthShares ETFs -- each of which is expected to carry a significantly lower expense ratio – as well as the closing of 15 He...
A walk down memory lane reveals that the original Dow Jones Industrial Average consisted of 12 companies; American Cotton Oil Company, American Sugar Company, American Tobacco Company, Chicago Gas Com...
This is the subject of a recent monthly investment-outlook newsletter penned by Bill Gross. Gross, reputed for his quirky style, happens to manage the $130 billion PIMCO Total Return Fund (the world’s...
Pacific Investment Management Co.’s (Pimco) reputation as a shrewd bond fund manager has served the company well. Soon, everyone will learn if that reputation can help it succeed in the burgeoning exc...
It’s been a rare occurrence, but some closed-end mutual funds are opting to become exchange-traded funds (ETFs). For instance, Claymore Advisors has just announced that the shareholders of Claymore/Ra...
Claymore Securities, known for its narrowly focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs), has just launched the Claymore/Delta Global Shipping Index ETF (SEA). The ETF tracks companies from the global maritim...
The PowerShares Dynamic Large Cap Value Portfolio (PWV) and the Dynamic Mid Cap Growth Portfolio (PWJ) are the first ETFs of their kind to receive five-star ratings by fund analyst Morningstar. The ra...
The number of major fund groups posting inflows fell to five in the week ending July 16, reports EPFR Global of Boston. “Against a backdrop of sharply slowing growth in the Eurozone and China, fresh t...
U.S. Global Investors, the San Antonio-based fund shop that boasts a chart-topping performance with its gold/precious-metals fund and its global-resources fund (among others), recently hosted a broad ...
Janus Capital Group Inc. says it should soon purchase an additional 50 percent interest in U.S. value manager Perkins, Wolf, McDonnell and Company for $90 million. Certain parts of the proposed deal m...
T. Rowe Price Group says it had second-quarter revenues of nearly $587 million on net income of $162 million vs. sales of $551 million in the same year-ago quarter and similar net income. Investment a...
A study of more than 150 advisors who focus on the retirement marketplace has revealed the key criteria in the selection of qualified default investment alternatives (or QDIAs) and the outlook for ......
“Vanguard Total World Stock Index Fund is our first passively managed global fund and provides exposure to the world’s stock markets through a single, low-cost vehicle,” says Vanguard Chief Investment...
Morgan Stanley Investment Management has introduced the Morgan Stanley Commodities Alpha Fund. The actively managed mutual fund, according to the company, offers high-net-worth investors the opportuni...
Merrill Lynch says it had a second-quarter net loss of $4.7 billion vs. earnings of $2.1 billion a year earlier. Second-quarter 2008 results include a pre-tax restructuring charge of $445 million rela...
Wachovia has reported a net loss in the second quarter of $8.9 billion, including a $6.1 billion non-cash goodwill impairment charge in commercial-related sub-segments. Excluding goodwill impairment a...
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley says UBS will pay $1 million related to the sales of auction rate securities to certain Massachusetts towns and cities. Some of these funds will be used b...
(CHICAGO) The AIG Advisor Group hosted “Why Women Are Winning,” a female-advisor event at the Ritz-Carlton from July 13-15. The event drew some 100 advisors and a good number of sponsors. And it ......
(CHICAGO) AIG Advisor Group President and CEO Larry Roth gave the opening address at the firm’s “Why Women Are Winning” event. He later shared some of his views on the organization, which includes AIG...
Social Security retirement benefits are an important component of many clients’ retirement incomes, but getting reliable estimates of future benefits has always been awkward. Fortunately, the Social S...
A study from Practical Research and GDC Research shows that many advisors are moving beyond the income-replacement challenge with their clients. Based on 100-plus in-depth interviews with financial ad...
The news media often lump baby boomers together when they discuss that age group. That generalization can be incorrect, particularly when it comes to understanding boomers’ attitudes toward their reti...
Graham: The number one retirement issue is not being prepared or not having a clear line of sight on what needs to be done to be prepared. For example, people think that they are saving enough to prep...
An increase in M&A among earlier-stage public [biotechnology] companies is likely and would enhance investor confidence in small-cap stocks. Large-cap companies with good earnings have performed well ...
Bob Kerzner is a passionate advocate for the life insurance industry. Since 2004 he has been the President & CEO of LIMRA International, a world-wide organization dedicated to providing its nine-hundr...
Talk about retiring today and it’s enough to scare some people to death. That’s not surprising considering the back story: the disappearing pension, rising health care costs, the credit crisis, the ho...
Fit in both body and mind, the Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido black belt, 48, is one of Smith Barney’s leading financial advisors, heading a team of 12 that manages assets of $2 billion for 150 families. In ...
Discussions of consumer spending tend to focus on post-tax dollars. This can be misleading because taxes are likely to be the bigger and faster growing expense category for employees in general and re...