Advance estimates for 2008’s fourth-quarter gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — show a decrease of 3.8% from the third quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Despite the fact that 2008 saw a record 46 exchange traded funds close, the total number of ETFs actually increased year-over-year to 747, from 629, according to a report released today by State Street Global Advisors of Boston.
The country is facing at least two more years of tough economic times, with no significant rebound for three-to-five years, said George Fisher, a senior adviser at New York private-equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Consumer confidence improved slightly over the last month, but is still near its lowest levels in decades, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment report, released this morning.
The Atlanta-based global investment manager recorded net income of $31.9 million, an 82% drop from the $175.9 million it reported in the year-earlier period — and down from $131.8 million in the third quarter of 2008.
The 529 college savings plan industry’s two advocacy organizations are taking steps to work more closely on 529 legislative issues in Washington.
The 529 college savings plan industry will face “a period of challenge” in Washington this year, according to veteran industry consultant James Delaplane, an attorney based in the capitol.
The troubles that hit variable annuity insurers last year will follow them into this year, further denting their financial strength, according to a report from Standard and Poor’s in New York.
T. Rowe Price has unveiled a web portal with tools that advisers and other firms can use to evaluate the asset manager’s mutual funds.
“Congress should grant the SEC explicit statutory authority to regulate hedge fund advisers as investment advisers,” Colorado securities commissioner Fred Joseph said at a press conference in Washington held by the North American Securities Administrators Association Inc.
