The Markets

Standard&Poor’s has launched three more Shariah-compliant indexes: the S&P Global Infrastructure Shariah, the S&P Global Healthcare Shariah, and the S&P /IFCI Large-MidCap Shariah.

Across all plan sizes, target-date funds are the most common default investment option although, in general, small plans are much less likely to have them on their menu...

Stock and bond funds posted net inflows of $37.9 billion in September 2007- a sharp increase from the $1.76 billion inflow posted in August, according to data from...

Online investors make the majority of their investment decisions independent of an investment adviser (56% of investors who trade securities online) are more likely to have an appetite...

Three out of four advisers surveyed (73%) by Eaton Vance Corp. use stocks in their clients’ portfolios both for long-term appreciation and as a way to provide current...

Individuals in the U.S. have $16.6 trillion in retirement accounts, and asset allocation funds are a growing percentage of that savings.

Janus Capital Group Inc. has announced that David Corkins, portfolio manager of Janus Fund, is leaving the firm to pursue other opportunities.

Massachusetts securities regulators have begun a probe into whether Bear Stearns Cos. improperly traded with two in-house hedge funds that collapsed this summer.

Hefty 401(k) plan fees can take a big bite out of a participant’s balance – a 26% chunk, according to a new study by the Congressional Research Service...

Does the stock market affect retirement decisions?

Two consultants and a university professor have formed a company to help advisers and plan sponsors better evaluate target-date/lifecycle fund offerings.

Contrary to popular belief, during times of financial uncertainty, investors reduce, not increase, the turnover of their financial assets, according to research from Strategic Insight (SI).

Putnam Investments has announced a plan to enhance the diversification of its target maturity funds by adding nine new underlying components.

As of September 28, 2007, 560 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S., managed by 17 ETF managers, had assets totaling approximately $554 billion, according to State Street’s ETF...

Participants investing in a single lifestyle, risk-based, fund had ending account balances that were 11% higher than those not using the funds over a 10-year period, according to...

F-Squared Investments, LLC, has launched an industry index portfolio dedicated to indexes constructed of a select number of actively managed mutual funds.

Zacks Investment Research, Inc. has launched a lifecycle index series, which includes four target retirement dates.

Morningstar, Inc., is revising the way it rates and ranks group variable annuities by comparing group variable annuities to open-end mutual funds rather than individual variable annuities.

The combined assets of the nation's exchange-traded funds (ETFs) increased by $18.25 million, or 3.7%, to $507.11 billion in August, according to the Investment Company Institute (ICI).

A panel of industry professionals at PLANADVISER’s National Conference in Orlando, Florida, discussed the faults with defaults and how to remedy them.