The genesis of the index is the Temporary Liquidity Guaranty Program created by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which allows bank holding companies to issue senior unsecured debt guaranteed by the U.S. government.
State Street Global Advisors today announced the launch of two new fixed-income exchange traded funds: the SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term International Treasury Bond ETF and the SPDR Barclays Capital Mortgage Backed Bond ETF.
Lincoln National Corp. has announced that it will lay off 5% of its employees, or approximately 540 positions, according to published reports.
The Mortgage Bankers Association is predicting that 2009 will be another rocky year for the housing sector, with housing starts falling 22.9%, new-home sales declining 31% and new-home prices falling another 5.1%.
Despite the economic downturn, investors with more than $100,000 in assets were still optimistic about investing in green ventures, according to a survey released today by Allianz Global Investors.
A rocky history notwithstanding, the U.S. Global Investors Global Mega Trends Fund (MEGAX) hopes to turn the corner in 2009 by focusing heavily on infrastructure-related investing.
Standard and Poor’s Ratings Services today cut its credit ratings on AFLAC Inc., placing the Columbus, Ga., health carrier on CreditWatch with negative implications.
A bipartisan group of seven House members today sent a letter to Treasury secretary-designate Timothy Geithner, asking him to set up an office of insurance information if he is confirmed.
The deepening recession and rising unemployment took a toll on homebuilding giant Centex Corp. in the final three months of 2008 as the company saw new-home sales plunge 80%.
A Luxembourg investment partnership has agreed to purchase two private-equity funds from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s bankruptcy estate.
Shares of AFLAC Inc., a Columbus, Ga.-based health insurer, plunged after a research note from Morgan Stanley aired concerns about the company’s capital levels.
Forward Management LLC of San Francisco, adviser to the Accessor Funds, announced today the launch of a mutual fund that gives investors access to “frontier” equity markets which are smaller, less liquid and less developed.
GE Asset Management Inc. of Stamford, Conn., today agreed to add the GE Investments Total Return Fund to Pacific Life Insurance Co.’s variable annuity platform.
The default rate for issuers of U.S. corporate junk bonds — bonds that Standard & Poor’s rates BB+ and below — is expected to “catapult” to an all-time high of 13.9% by December, S&P said in a report today.
The housing market continued its downward spiral in December, with new-home construction plummeting to a record low, according to data released today by the Department of Commerce.
Pacific Investment Management Co. of Newport Beach, Calif., has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch the Treasury Money Market and Government Money Market funds.
Hedge funds experienced record net redemptions of $155 billion in 2008, which when combined with a performance decline of 18.3% for the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite index for the year, dropped total industry assets 25% to $1.4 trillion as of Dec. 31.
According to preliminary data from Hennessee Group LLC in New York, total hedge-fund assets declined by 39% to $1.21 trillion in 2008 — their lowest level since 2006.
The mysterious disappearance of a Florida hedge fund manager five days ago has prompted the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission to join the investigation, published reports said.
Actively managed equity mutual funds suffered record net outflows of $208.3 billion last year, while equity index funds enjoyed net inflows of $28 billion, according to estimates from Morningstar Inc.
