Here's how the new approaches work—and tips on the market environments when they make more sense than the traditional capitalization-weighted index funds.
Mutual-fund companies are striving to get the tone right as they use social media to reach out to clients and potential investors.
More employers are using re-enrollments to help employees get their retirement investments on track. Re-enrolling is when the company shifts workers' 401(k) dollars out of their current allocations and into the plan's selected default option—typically a target-date fund.
While funds holding gold bullion and silver are popular with investors, products that invest directly in other commodities may prove more challenging.
While these instruments can be useful, they often are poorly understood by average investors, who may have trouble assessing how much swap-related risk is embedded in their funds.
Companies are adding low-cost exchange-traded funds to variable annuities as a way to trim annuity expenses.
Investors have lately cooled toward fixed-income funds, but demographics suggest strong demand in future years.
The randomness of the past leads adviser Nelson Lam to spread clients' money widely.
In a tough period for active managers, Cambiar's Brian Barish tops the charts.
You can see an outline of Merrill's future in Bank of America's latest earnings report. Plus: an update on LPL Financial, and strategies that advisers are using to attract new clients.
Coming next Monday
New proposals from the SEC would force brokerage firms to give customers more information, and help investors make more informed decisions.
A price war is driving down expenses on exchange-traded funds—and the fight is still in the early rounds. Further cuts are likely not only among popular broad-market ETFs and funds, but also for products in niche areas such as emerging markets and industry sectors.
Many people five or 10 years from retirement age have nest eggs that are too small to safely retire on. Investment professionals have some important advice about what to do.
Investors pouring money into emerging-markets funds, take note: Financial research shows that strong economic growth doesn't always translate into strong market returns.
Rising prices typically call for investing in certain types of stocks, while falling prices suggest a very different portfolio. The trick is finding stocks and funds that work in either scenario.
Read more Journal Reports.
Download complete lists of individual fund performance, broken down by families.