Tag: Markets

The Callan DC Index bounced back from a disappointing third quarter to post a gain of nearly 7% in the fourth quarter of 2011. 

Open-end mutual funds had their strongest long-term flows in nearly two years with an estimated $44 billion in February inflows.

Investors put an estimated $46 billion in net inflows into stock and bond mutual funds in the U.S. in February 2012.

The latest S&P Target Date Scorecard indicates that further-dated target-date funds are continuing to generally have lower cross-sectional ranges of equity exposure than closer-dated funds, through not by...

In February, corporate pension plans experienced a $20 billion improvement in funding, according to Milliman's Pension Funding Index.  

The aggregate deficit in pension plans sponsored by S&P 1500 companies was $410 billion on February 29, 2012.

The typical U.S. corporate pension plan’s funded status rose 2.1% in February. 

Net cash contributions to long-term mutual funds around the world came in at around $200 billion for 2011, down from almost $1 trillion in both 2010 and 2009,...

 BlackRock Inc.’s iShares Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) business launched two dividend-focused equity funds designed to access the emerging markets and Asia/Pacific developed markets.   

Seventy-three percent of Americans ages 18 to 34 do not currently invest in retirement accounts such as a 401(k) or IRA. 

Fund managers have turned significantly more cautious about the prospects for world growth and investment returns, according to a global survey of investment managers by Towers Watson.

 Only 9% of more than 5,000 investment strategies achieve the highest environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings, according to an analysis performed by Mercer’s Investments business.   

At a recent Putnam Investments media briefing, company officials said they predict the U.S. economy could surprise on the upside in 2012.

Thirty-eight percent of affluent investors responding to Merrill Lynch's Affluent Insights Survey said a less volatile stock market would encourage them to start saving more for retirement.  

Target maturity funds experienced a welcome bounce-back during the fourth quarter, according to the Ibbotson Target Maturity Report.

The year 2011 was packed with market surprises from natural disasters to ratings downgrades to cultural revolutions.

Eighteen percent of Americans say planning for retirement is an area they want to work on in 2012.

Towers Watson believes that stable value investors should be aware of a few shifts brought on by a combination of an underlying structural change and recent economic stress.  

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and Eurasia Group address investor concerns over the fragility of global markets in a new white paper and Webcast, titled, “The Great Global Shift:...

Merlin Securities announced that Rick Bensignor, a former Morgan Stanley strategist and behavioral economist, has joined the firm as Chief Market Strategist.