Investing

American Funds has made its inaugural step into the target date fund market by adding nine funds to its retirement fund lineup.

IndexIQ has launched a series of new families of indices for institutional and high net worth investors.

Wilmington Trust has announced the addition of two new fundamentally weighted mutual funds to its lineup of domestic equity funds.

Morningstar, Inc., announced Wednesday it will collect net returns, in addition to the gross returns, for its collective investment trusts and will provide monthly rankings and Morningstar Ratings against a peer group of mutual funds.

Assets of US mutual funds continued their upward march in October, adding $286.6 billion, or 2.9%, to total over $10 trillion, according to the Investment Company Institute's (ICI) official fund industry survey.

The total combined assets of the nation's exchange-traded funds (ETFs) shot up 9.4% to $383.3 billion in October, according to an Investment Company Institute (ICI) news release.

Legg Mason has announced it will offer "R" shares for 11 of its mutual funds, effective December 1, 2006.

While the number of net transfers by 401(k) participants was equally split among fixed income and equity funds for the month of October, overall net assets moved toward equities, according the Hewitt 401(k) Index.

State Street Global Advisors Inc. (SSgA) has filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) signaling its intention to halt redemption fees from its international and high-yield funds beginning in 2007.

Russell Investment Group announced it has shuffled the asset allocations for its LifePoints target date funds, driven by its research that showed defined contribution plan participants can tolerate more risk.

American United Life Insurance Company (AUL) has added 25 new investment options for plan participants.

John Hancock Retirement Services has added eight target date funds and a Retirement Portfolio to its roster of investment options for 401(k) plan participants.

A Washington Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) group and the largest banking trade association in the nation asked the Department of Labor (DoL) to clarify and tailor certain parts of the safe harbor rule that would govern qualified default investment alternatives (QDIAs).

The Vanguard Group has announced it has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to include the Vanguard Structured Large-Cap Value Fund in its offering of structured equity portfolios for institutional investors.

The gap between mutual fund ownership outside of retirement plans and inside of retirement plans narrowed in 2006, a recent survey by the Investment Company Institute (ICI) revealed.

A new Putnam Investments analysis of the Department of Labor (DoL)-approved default option list suggests plan sponsors could be doing participants a disservice by concentrating too heavily on one driver in selecting their default.

Study finds more actively-managed funds have higher performance

22c-2 reverberates with retirement plan advisers

General information about Exchange Traded Funds.

The most alluring feature of ETF-based retirement accounts is their cost advantage. Darwin Abrahamson, CEO of Invest n Retire in Portland, Oregon, and a 401(k) innovator, contends he is able to deliver a plan for a combined cost to participants and sponsors of between 65 and 105 basis points per year, depending on the size of the plan.