As the comment period ends this Wednesday on an SEC proposed rule that would regulate certain index annuities as securities, independent distributors are gearing up in anticipation of the rule's enactment.
Raymond James & Associates Inc. analyst Paul Puryear downgraded homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc. to market perform from outperform today.
Fifth Third Asset Management Inc. is selling off all its municipal bond funds to Federated Investors Inc., according to the website fundaction.com.
Sun Life Financial Inc.’s U.S. division has launched its charitable estate planning campaign to teach advisers and clients about using life insurance for charitable purposes.
Overall individual-annuity sales grew 4% during the second quarter, buoyed by a spike in fixed-annuity sales, according to Limra International Inc.
American International Group Inc. is reportedly in talks with JPMorgan Chase & Co. to spin off some its subprime assets into a new company, according to The New York Post.
Van Eck Associates Corp. today launched the first global-hard-assets exchange traded fund — Market Vectors-RVE Hard Assets Producers (HAP).
Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc. posted a loss and a 27% decline in net new-home orders in its fiscal third quarter.
The Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund VII Global will invest at least $1.46 billion in China over the next few years.
Munder Capital Management Inc. has announced plans to exit the money market mutual fund business.
Janus Capital Group Inc. today launched Janus Adviser Modular Portfolio Construction Fund (JSMPX), a fund of funds.
Henderson Global Investors, the Hartford, Conn.-based unit of Henderson Global Investors Ltd. of London, has launched the Henderson Industries of the Future Fund.
U.S. construction spending slipped 0.6% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.084 trillion, its lowest July level since 2004.
Insured losses from Hurricane Gustav were not large enough to affect the creditworthiness of the insurance and reinsurance industries, S&P said.
With new products emerging and a streamlined global regulatory regime on the horizon, the scope and popularity of exchange traded funds is growing.
Despite consistently having generated above-average returns during much of the past six years, industrial real estate investment trusts, especially those with a global reach, are slipping along with the economy.
Maybe this will make fund fees easier to bear. The Davlin Philanthropic Fund, which was launched in July, will donate one-half percentage point of its 1.65% expense ratio to charities picked by its investors.
To capitalize on international investing, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP has launched an international-equity fund despite comparatively stronger U.S. stock market performance.
Many financial advisers consider municipal bonds to be relatively safe investments, but that image took a hit last week when Jefferson County, Ala., moved a step closer to what could be the largest municipal bond default in U.S. history.
