The Markets

A new report finds that a shift toward equity funds benefited all wrap platform types in the first quarter, but that discretionary “rep-as-portfolio manager” programs enjoyed the fastest...

Stock and bond funds experienced net inflows of $44.7 billion in April, according the Financial Research Corporation.

No Load share classes, particularly those without 12b-1 fees, have grown to become the single most important share class in mutual fund sales through intermediaries, according to recent...

Household stock ownership has decreased, as the tax benefits associated with owning stocks inside a pension plan increase, according to a study from the Stanford Graduate School of...

Investment returns were in the range of 12% in FY2010 – the second consecutive year of double-digit returns and a welcome offset to the 26% portfolio decline experienced...

Globally, year-to-date cash contributions to equity and mixed funds through April 2011 surpassed fixed income for the first time since the financial crisis.

State Street’s SPDR University suggests that investors would be well-served to start thinking about how exposure to real assets can help position their portfolio for rising inflation.

Since the financial crisis, institutional asset holders are selecting fewer strategic partners and even fewer products, according to Strategic Insight, an Asset International company.

Investment Metrics’ (IM) analysis of approximately 6,200 institutional separate account composites and commingled fund products finds the U.S. Small Cap category topped the performance chart in Q1 2011.

Total 529 savings plan assets increased to an estimated $146 billion in the first quarter of 2011, reflecting a 5.8% increase from the previous quarter.

Based on the earnings results of publicly-traded asset managers, kasina found that the first quarter of 2011 witnessed a slight drop in asset manager margins despite growth in...

On average, defined contribution plan participants include 5.3 funds in their accounts in 2011 - nearly double what they had in 1996, according to a Spectrem study.

Inflows for U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) accelerated to $23.3 billion in April after reaching just $6.9 billion in March.

Long-term mutual funds saw inflows of $23.9 billion in April, which trailed March’s $27.0 billion, according to data from Morningstar.

At the ETF & Indexing Investments USA 2011 Conference in New York City this week, panelists discussed the pros and cons of the “democratization” of exchange-traded funds (ETFs)....

Bucking the global trend, U.S. investment manager searches decreased by 6% last year, according to data released by Mercer.

Cerulli says new opportunities can be recognized in the retail separate accounts industry by institutional asset managers that are willing to pursue them.

U.S. mutual fund investors demonstrated confidence in a gradual economic recovery, adding about $27 billion in net new cash to U.S. stock and bond mutual funds in April...

Investors poured an additional $23 billion into U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in April 2011, up from $9 billion of inflows in March.

Advisers will be advising clients to move into domestic equities, emerging market equities, and global developed market equities and away from Treasury bills, U.S. fixed income, and...