Investments that advisers should look at in an overheated market

May 24, 2017

Editor's note: This is part of a series looking at how the advice industry is getting ready for the next market correction. Investing in today's stock market is a bit like driving 90 miles an hour on a wet highway with bald tires. You may not...

Baird picks CAIS platform for hedge funds

May 17, 2017

Robert W. Baird & Co. has signed on with CAIS' alternatives platform, allowing its 875 advisers to select single-manager hedge funds for the first time. "Many of the advisers we have recruited from wirehouses are experienced in offering hedge...

Addepar acquires AltX to expand in alternatives

May 17, 2017

Addepar, a New York-based investment management platform for advisers and their clients, has acquired AltX, a San Francisco-based intelligence platform for alternative investments. Using machine-learning technology, which enables computers to...

Trump's tax plan could fuel rally in MLP investments

May 11, 2017

If the Trump administration's tax-reform plan gains traction, investors in master limited partnerships could be among the beneficiaries, which means financial advisers might want to start sharpening their pencils for some number crunching. President...

Smart-beta ETFs shine

April 29, 2017

Smart-beta ETFs​ have been the fund industry's latest passion. That's not usually a good thing: A rush of new funds in a particular area is usually a prelude to a long period of buyer's remorse from investors and mockery from the press. So...

Understanding the components of investment return

April 26, 2017

The ability to separately offer the different elements of investment return — beta, strategic beta and alpha — is a growing and important trend. The concept of unbundling isn't new; many industries are beginning to break apart their packaged...

Sponsored by Columbia Threadneedle

Nontraded BDC to pursue listing on national exchange

April 6, 2017

Corporate Capital Trust Inc., a $4.4 billion nontraded business development company sponsored by CNL Financial Group, said Wednesday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it would pursue a potential listing on a national...

Alternatives in the mainstream – A growth opportunity for advisers

March 13, 2017

The following is an excerpt from a new research paper, “Alternatives in the mainstream,” that was co-developed by InvestmentNews Research and Blackstone. Several current indicators point to potentially greater use of alternative investments...

Sponsored by Blackstone

Nasdaq courts advisers with new private-equity trading platform

March 8, 2017

Private-equity managers are poised to start targeting financial advisers and their wealthier clients, thanks to an expanded alternatives platform by Nasdaq Private Markets. Debuting Wednesday as NPM Alternatives, the private-auction marketplace...

Putting alternatives into tax-exempt vehicles

February 28, 2017

Generating adequate income for clients during their retirement is increasingly a challenge for financial advisers. Longer life-spans, rising health costs and ineffective safety nets continue to exacerbate this challenge. Increasing allocations...

Financial advisers bristle at SEC's pitch to redefine 'accredited investor'

February 27, 2017

Financial advisers rejected a recommendation Friday from the acting chairman of the SEC to increase investor access to private and exotic investment strategies that are usually reserved for rich people. "I think this is an awful idea, as awful...

Misclassified fund draws huge assets, then falters

February 16, 2017

The Catalyst Hedged Futures Strategy Fund (HFXIX) was up 6.2% last year, head and shoulders above the average managed futures fund, which fell 2.8%. Performance like that caught investors' eyes. The fund's assets soared from $1.2 billion in...

Elderly investors win $1.25 million Finra arbitration over failed medical start-up investments

February 3, 2017

A Connecticut investment bank this week lost a $1.25 million Finra arbitration award that focused on the alleged sale of unsuitable securities to elderly investors. William Lashlee, 88, and Keith and Joyce McCrea, elderly retirees, alleged in...

Fred Alger Management scoops up Boston-based asset manager

January 18, 2017

Alger Associates, the parent company of Fred Alger Management, is acquiring Weatherbie Capital, a Boston-based registered investment adviser with $800 million under management. The deal, expected to close in March, represents Alger's first acquisition...

Meet the ETF Class of 2016

January 17, 2017

As the exchange-traded fund industry gears up for the Inside ETFs conference in Hollywood, Fla., a look at last year's new funds provides some insights as to what's hot and what's not. Morningstar (MORN) lists 239 ETFs that made their debut...

Smart-beta returns track their Morningstar categories

January 5, 2017

Your fund may have the smartest beta around, but your returns are still ultimately going to stem from the fund's primary investment playground. Smart beta funds are index funds that use a set of rules to modify performance, preferably for the...

Couple wins $922K arbitration claim over illiquid real estate investments

December 15, 2016

Mid Atlantic Capital Corp., an independent broker-dealer, lost a $922,000 arbitration award on Tuesday to a couple who sued the company over sales of illiquid real estate private placements and nontraded real estate investment trusts. The claimants,...

Small broker-dealer owner settles with Finra over allegations of concentrating clients in illiquid alts

November 22, 2016

A combative owner of a small broker-dealer has reached a settlement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. over claims that he and his firm had clients overly concentrated in illiquid investments and had used a book he had written...