Competing fiercely for the attention of investors, fund companies have brought out a wave of specialized offerings. Many of the choices which include mutual funds and exchange-trade funds focus on hot-sounding industries, or growing areas of the...

Long a Favorite of Investors in Europe, structured products are rapidly gaining popularity in the United States. Last year, $114 billion in structured products were issued in the U.S., according to the Structured Products Association. That's a 78...

Much has changed since Elliot Spitzer's efforts exploded the well-entrenched preferred list model for mutual fund distribution. Centralized home-office due-diligence teams are now in the driver's seat, with advisors selecting products for their...

Financial research firm Morningstar announced today the three winners chosen as “Mutual Fund Managers of the Year.” But with many studies showing one year’s hot managers

What are the chances that one of your funds will return 100 percent (or more) next year? Slim extremely slim. Funds rarely double in a 12-month period; and when they do, one wonders: To sell or not to sell? Well, recently, just such a rarity has...

Hedge Funds, private equity and other investments may be an emerging playground for the rich, but mutual funds still have their place in the hearts of the moneyed set. Of course, some funds get more love than others. According to the Luxury...

For decades, investors and academics alike have sought the magic bullet, the one data point that would predict the future performance of mutual funds. Hundreds of studies looked at a variety of variables including past performance, expense ratio...

Most financial advisors lust after rich people. Lust is perhaps an arresting choice of words, but it does accurately describe the intensity of desire an advisor suddenly feels when a liquid millionaire is referred to him. This is precisely what...

Here's a list of the fastest growing asset managers, based on percent change in AUM among firms with assets between $1 billion and $10 billion for the 12-month period ending April 2007. Topping the list is Kinetics Asset Management, which is...

Don't panic yet, but in case you haven't heard, the SEC is taking a hard look at a major source of pay for reps: 12b-1 fees. Sure, the subject of 12b-1 reform has been bandied about for more than a decade. But SEC director of investment management...