The Markets

Financial advisers across all segments see ETFs as the most innovative investment vehicle of the last two decades, according to a State Street study.

Emerging world equity markets gained 2.34% in May, while developed world markets returned 1.85%, according to Standard&Poor’s monthly stock market review, the World By Numbers.

More than a decade ago, my mom was getting her finances ready for retirement.

When looking at 2020 funds, the range of equity allocations spans from 51% to 95%, according to a study by Financial Research Corporation (FRC).

Defined contribution participants chased performance in the face of first-quarter volatility this year, according to Callan Defined Contribution Index data.

Purchasing fixed-income annuities gradually or all at once can build more long-term wealth and liquidity than other retirement income strategies, claims a study from MassMutual.

Assets of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) rose in April to $595.96 billion, marking an almost 30% increase in the last year.

Assets in U.S. mutual funds got a 2.9% boost in April to $12.1 trillion, according to the latest Investment Company Institute (ICI) data.

Stock and bond funds experienced net inflows of $24.7 billion in April, according to the Financial Research Corporation (FRC).

A good portion of participants’ retirement income will come from investment returns generated by 401(k) accounts after they stop work, research from Russell Investments says.

Many consumers have misconceptions about the use of fixed-income investments, according to a survey from E*TRADE Securities LLC.

Defined contribution participants nearing retirement may be shocked at the asset allocation to equities in their target-date funds, says a new research paper by Watson Wyatt.

Both stock and bond mutual funds experienced inflows in April, while money market funds saw seasonal withdrawals, according to data from Strategic Insight.

Annuity assets will grow to $2.9 trillion by 2012, fueled by demographic and product trends, a recent study by Cerulli Associates says.

The Financial Research Corporation (FRC), a source for information on asset inflows and outflows to mutual fund companies, said it will stop disclosing net sales information to the...

Although stagflation fears are gripping investors, inflation concerns are fast overtaking worries about economic growth, according to Merrill Lynch’s Survey of Fund Managers for May.

Americans held $17.6 trillion in retirement assets at the end of 2007, up $1.1 trillion from year-end 2006, according to a report from the Investment Company Institute (ICI).

You can file this one under “people with way too much time on their hands.″

Strong returns in April helped world equity markets bounce back from a bad start in 2008, according to data from Standard&Poor’s.

Of the 50.6 million U.S. households – 43.6% of total households – that own mutual funds, almost half (49%) consider employer-sponsored retirement plans to be their primary source...