Tag Archives: funds.
Funds That Bet on Booming Emerging Markets
NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Funds that track the MSCI Emerging Markets benchmark have ranked among the most popular investments in recent years. Big members of the group include Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index and Northern Emerging Markets Equity Index. By buying the index funds, investors figure that they can place a bet on the booming economies of countries such as Brazil and China where millions of consumers are entering the middle class.
But the MSCI funds may not provide the kind of exposure that investors expect, says Marten Hoekstra, chief executive of Emerging Global Advisors. For starters the index funds don’t put all their assets in emerging markets, he says.
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Protect Your Portfolio With High-Yield Bond Funds
NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Since the financial crisis, nervous investors have been pouring into bond funds. But the flight to fixed income could produce dismal results. The problem is that most bond funds drop when interest rates rise, and many economists expect that rates will climb in coming years.
Investors recently got a taste of how hazardous rising rates can be. During the past month, rates on 10-year Treasuries climbed 0.30 of a percentage point to 2.28%, and long government funds lost 2.8%, according to Morningstar.
For protection, investors should diversify portfolios. One strategy is to add high-yield funds, which invest in junk or corporate bonds that are rated below-investment grade.
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Enough Bull: How to Retire Well without the Stock Market, Mutual Funds, or Even an Investment Advisor
Enough Bull: How to Retire Well without the Stock Market, Mutual Funds, or Even an Investment Advisor
The one book your bank REALLY does not want you to read.More than ever before, Canadians are frightened and stressed out about their retirement and financial future. With the mortgage, car payments and credit card bills, there never seems to be enough to pay the current bills let alone save thousands in RRSPs. At the same time, the large financial institutions are bombarding us with fearful messages of destitution unless we maximize our RRSP contributions.The stock market crash of 2008 has prove
List Price: $ 19.95
Ignore the “Experts.” Index Funds Are for Chumps
Why? Because there are a lot of really lousy companies in the S&P, and anytime you invest in an S&P index fund, you’re automatically buying them.
Fool.com: The Motley Fool
The Everything Mutual Funds Book: How to Pick, Buy and Sell Mutual Funds and Watch Your Money Grow! (Everything (Business & Personal Finance)) Reviews
3 Small-Cap Funds Delivering Steady Performance
NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Small stocks were clobbered during the volatile markets of last year. In the third quarter, small blend funds lost 21%, according to Morningstar. For 2011, the funds lost 4.1%, trailing the S&P 500 by 6 percentage points.
Investors should not be surprised by the turbulent performance of small-cap funds. Many academic studies have shown that small-cap funds can be more volatile than large stocks. During rough times panicked investors can suddenly dump little-known small stocks and take refuge in giant blue chips, which seem like safer bets.
Although they come with risk, small stocks belong in nearly every portfolio because they can deliver strong long-term returns. Small-cap funds have ranked as one of the top-performing categories in recent years. During the past 10 years, small value funds returned 7.7% annually, outdoing the S&P 500 by four percentage points.
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The Rise of Mutual Funds: An Insider’s View
The Rise of Mutual Funds: An Insider’s View
In 1940 few Americans had heard of mutual funds. Today U.S. mutual funds are the largest financial industry in the world, with over 88 million shareholders and over trillion in assets. The Rise of Mutual Funds describes the developments that have produced mutual funds’ long history of success. Among these developments are:
* formation of the first mutual funds in the roaring 20s
* how the 1929 stock market crash, a disaster for most financial institutions, spurred the growth of
Stop Wasting Your Wealth in Mutual Funds: Separately Managed Accounts – The Smart Alternative
3 Bond Funds That Can Beat the Pack
NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Because of their low expenses, index funds often outdo 60% or more of their actively managed competitors. But in some recent years, Vanguard Total Bond Market Index has delivered unusually strong performance. In 2008, the fund surpassed 91% of intermediate-term bond competitors, and last year Vanguard topped 88%, according to Morningstar.
Do the results prove once and for all that active managers aren’t worth the fees they charge? Hardly. Vanguard’s strong showing is due to temporary shifts in the bond markets. Soon enough the pendulum is likely to swing the other direction, and active managers will easily outdo the benchmark.
Like many bond index funds, Vanguard Total Bond tracks a version of the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate bond index, the most popular fixed-income benchmark. Seeking to mimic the investment-grade bond markets, the Barclays index holds a mix of Treasuries, corporate bonds and mortgage-backed securities. The benchmark gives each sector roughly the same weight as it has in the markets.
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Investment Banks, Hedge Funds, and Private Equity
Investment Banks, Hedge Funds, and Private Equity
This description of the symbiotic relationships among investment banks, hedge funds, and private equity firms shows students how firms simultaneously compete and cooperate. The author has captured the ways these firms are reinventing themselves in the post-crash regulatory environment and, through ten extensive cases, the ways in which they are increasing their power and influence.
Emphasizes the needs for capital, sources of capital, and the process of getting capital to those who need it. <
List Price: $ 82.95
