The face value of outstanding municipal bonds was $3.7 trillion at the end of September, compared with the previous figure of $2.9 trillion at the end of June, the Fed said.
The biggest bond gains in almost a decade have pushed returns on Treasuries above stocks over the past 30 years, the first time that's happened since before the Civil War.
An economic slowdown remains the No. 1 risk facing businesses, according to Aon Corp.'s biennial Global Risk Management Survey of global risk managers and chief financial officers
Sun Life's recent exit from the variable annuity business is just the latest sign that carriers aren't thrilled by the risks such long-term investments carry. With several insurers backing out of the business, and others reining in benefits and raising prices, 2011 may go down as the year of the vanishing VA | <b>Extra</b> <a href=http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=CI&Date=20110912&Category=FREE&ArtNo=912009999&Ref=PH?>Advisers favorite VA providers &raquo;</a>
Anytime you have to redraw or resize a chart to accommodate one piece of data – a severe outlier, if you will – you have to talk about it. Or in this case: Point to the <i>real<i/> elephant in the room.
Emerging-markets stocks may rise 39% by the end of next year, spurred by a “soft landing” for China's economy, earnings growth and cheap valuations, according to Morgan Stanley
Carrier being sued for allegedly retaining life insurance payouts, pocketing the float
A continuing three-year, 35-state investigation into the practices by which life insurers pay death benefits may spawn more-stringent requirements for locating beneficiaries
Today's auction of five-year notes seen throwing off puny 0.885%: returns for the year have been stellar
Financial advisers increasingly are looking to dividend income as a means to provide cash flow to retired clients — despite some obvious risks in doing so.
It didn't take long for Daniel Gallagher, the SEC's newest commissioner, to disagree with the agency's chairman, Mary Schapiro.
State and local governments are unlikely to experience a “material increase” in municipal defaults over the next three to five years, according to a study by Kroll Bond Rating Agency Inc.
So far, star analyst's prediction of disaster for tax-exempt sector way off the mark; other made similar forecasts
Bellwether MSCI index down 20% on the year; Asia poised for modest rebound
Firm reopens five-star funds, giving closed-out investors a chance to buy in at lower prices
Highland Capital Management LP is taking its separation of institutional and retail assets to the next level.
Granularity should help institutional investors; overkill for retail buyers?
A hefty charge that ING Groep NV will take on its American variable annuity business appears to be a mixed blessing for investors hoping to snap up shares of the company's insurance unit once it makes its public debut.
