The Markets
Fidelity Target Fund Shareholders Support Sudan Divestment
Millions of Fidelity customers invested in two of its target-date funds have voted for a proposal to prevent holdings in investments in companies that substantially contribute to genocide...
Funds See $44B Asset Influx in July
The recent market uptick continued to benefit U.S. mutual fund flows in July as investors poured almost $44 billion ($171 billion year to date) into fund offerings, Morningstar...
Adviser Explains Reason for Rejecting 403(b)
An investment adviser for a public access television station in Enid, Oklahoma, explained that costs were behind the decision to ditch a 403(b) plan for employees in favor...
ETFs Gain Assets Overall; Leveraged ETFs Lose Assets
Exchange-traded fund (ETF) assets rose $47.4 billion, or 8%, in July, according to State Street Global Advisors (SSgA).
Strategic Insight Highlights Recent Mutual Fund Changes
Following is a summary of mutual fund filing changes complied by Strategic Insight (an Asset International company, and sister firm of PLANADVISER) from recent prospectus filings.
QVC Investigates 401(k) Loans
The QVC home shopping network turned away workers at its Rocky Mount, North Carolina, distribution center as part of a probe into whether 401(k) hardship loans they’ve received...
Emerging Managers Better Performers during Downturn
Small, entrepreneurial investment management firms maintained a performance advantage over larger, established firms through last year’s market downturn, according to updated research on emerging investment managers by Northern...
Public Access TV Station Rejects 403(b) in Favor of SIMPLE IRA
The board of directors for PEGASYS, a public-access television station in Enid, Oklahoma, has approved a change in employee retirement plans.
Institutions Could Surpass Individuals as Mutual Fund Owners
A new Cerulli report says institutional ownership of mutual funds totaled $4.3 trillion at year-end 2008, a decline of 12.3% from prior year totals.
Starbucks Will Make 2009 Match Contribution
Starbucks announced to its U.S. employees that it will make the company discretionary match to the Future Roast 401(k) Savings Plan for the 2009 plan year.
Utah Hospital Says Setting up 401(k) Was a Mistake
Kane County (Utah) Hospital employees whose 401(k) retirement plan accounts have been frozen by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are threatening to sue the hospital.
Edward Jones Puts Brakes on Leveraged ETFs
As the sale of leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) comes under scrutiny from regulators, Edward Jones & Co. is nixing the sale of the products.
Investors Still Follow Bond Objective
Stock and bond funds experienced net inflows of $41.6 billion in June, according to the Financial Research Corporation (FRC).
Prudential Calls for Stable Value To Be Included as QDIAs
Testifying before the U.S. Department of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Council, James King, Jr., vice president and head of Prudential Retirement’s Stable Value Markets Group, urged that stable value...
Investors Change ETF Investing Strategies
U.S. ETF asset flows were marked by a continued shift away from large cap and developed international equities during the first half of the year and into emerging...
Securities Class Actions Plummet Through Mid-2009
The number of federal securities class action cases filed in the first six months of 2009 dropped by 22.3% over a year earlier, according to the latest data...
June Continued 401(k) Bond to Stock Cash Flow
401(k) participants continued their search for higher returns in June by moving almost $270 million out of fixed-income into a range of equity offerings, according to the latest...
Managers Have Expectations for Corporate Earnings Growth
Investment managers expect corporate earnings to increase in the next three months, and a majority expect global GDP growth to accelerate in the next six months, according to...
Target-Date Funds End Losing Streak
The stock market rally that continued throughout the second quarter ended the string of six consecutive quarters in which the average target-date fund lost money, according to the...