Testing the assumption that mutual fund managers focus on gathering assets to boost their compensation rather than on generating excess returns.
<i>Breakfast with Benjamin:</i>Oil spikes as Iraq's stability crumbles. Plus: Hedge funds bristle at Obama's latest executive order, the significance of the Dow at 17,000, how active managers are helping index investors, and quantitative analysis is being applied to golf scores.
<i>Breakfast with Benjamin:</i> Buffett doubles down on green. Plus: ECB stimulus gains traction, Apple shares at less than $100, Alibaba IPO risks, when prostitutes become currency traders, and how to buy Scotch for your dad.
<i>Breakfast with Benjamin:</i> Bill Gross' controversial new strategy. Plus: BlackRock CEO Fink calls out leveraged ETFs, nobody can agree on the gold-price decline, dealing with lump-sum pension offers, a solar company that makes sense, and the various forms of a caffeine addict.
Surprising comments by Fed chief Janet Yellen on rate hikes gave bond markets a bad scare.
The expansion of iShares Core brings down expense ratios but doesn't eliminate the need for solid due diligence.
Investors considering using ETFs that seek to magnify return of a given index need to understand the risks, says S&P Capital IQ's Todd Rosenbluth.
Money manager relies on individuals saving for retirement, rising stock prices to offset institutional withdrawals.
The financial advice business has changed fundamentally, but money managers who depend on advisers for nearly a third of their revenue are stuck in the past.
The falloff in social media stocks is burning investors who piled into one of last year's most popular exchange-traded funds.
At least 70 mutual funds across various fixed-income categories have more than 4% allocated to stocks, according to Morningstar. On the extreme end, almost half of those bond funds have equity weightings of between 10% and 63%.
Bill Gross's Pimco Total Return Fund sustained its 12th straight month of withdrawals in April as the world's largest bond fund continues to trail its peers.
Pacific Investment Management Co.'s Bill Gross said asset markets from stocks to real estate are not overpriced because the Federal Reserve's long-term policy rate will be half of what policymakers are forecasting.
Neuberger Berman product joins ranks of similar funds from Goldman, JPMorgan and Pimco.
For fund investors, the vacation from capital gains taxes may be over after another strong year for stocks. But it's not all bad news, as there are ways for investors to extend their holiday.
<i>Breakfast with Benjamin:</i> Euro stocks rally but for how long?. Plus: The China risk, big money managers are flush once again, the future of airplane seating, and 21 inspirational yearbook quotes.
<i>Friday's menu:</i> Ukraine heats up and fund winners and losers come into focus. Plus: Fed-speak clarity: an oxymoron? Bank loan funds fall victim to Fed policy, Obamacare drags us back to the 1950s and banks square off with Big Labor in Vegas.
U.S. fund companies are pushing back against claims that some firms may be too big to fail, saying that singling out a few large money managers and subjecting them to more regulation would hurt competition and ultimately fund investors.
How much can the year's surprising mutual fund flows tell us? Leuthold Weeden Capital Management's Kristen Hendrickson takes a deep dive and provides insight into how the rest of the year could play out.
Money manager recommends diversifying and considering alternative fixed-income investments.
