Positive Returns Drive Rising Demand for Real Assets
A Bank of America report highlights why real assets are gaining ground in diversified, long-term portfolios.
The Markets
Insurance AUM Reaches $4.5T in 2024, Tripling in Past Decade
A significant majority of third-party insurance AUM is invested in fixed-income strategies, but insurers are increasingly allocating to alternative investments.
Surge in Bond ETFs Driven by Institutional Investors
According to BlackRock , actively managed strategies currently account for 14% of U.S. fixed-income ETF assets under management and 8%...
Industry Anticipates SEC Approval of Dual Share Class ETF Offerings
The Securities and Exchange Commission in March said it was prioritizing its review of applications for firms aiming to offer ETF...
ETFs See Lowest Inflows in a Year
State Street said that the inflows were so much below recent averages that the company's full-year forecast for ETF assets...
2024 Global Asset Management AUM Grows to $128T
Seventy percent of asset manager revenue last year was driven by market performance, according to research from the Boston Consulting...
Nasdaq-100 Underrepresented in 401(k) Plans
A survey by Shelton Capital Management showed that allocations to Nasdaq-100 Index mutual funds make up fewer than 1% of...
Inflows Into TIAA Traditional Hit 5-Year High
Market uncertainty has shifted investors toward safer investments, the firm says.
Despite April Funding Downturn, Opportunities for Pension Derisking Remain
There is a “critical window of opportunity” for plans to strategically pursue a partial or full pension risk transfer, according...
Investors’ Bad Behavior Led to Sharp Underperformance in 2024
Equity fund investors missed the S&P 500 by a massive 848 basis points, while fixed-income investors underperformed by 232 basis...
US Recession Talks Get Louder
A range of banks and broker/dealers have raised the specter of a U.S. recession as the April 9 tariff deadline...
First Quarter of 2025 Sees High 401(k) Participant Trading Activity
Alight Solutions found high levels of trading in retirement plans in the first quarter of this year, as 0.77% of...
Investment Strategists Predict Which Sectors Will Perform in a Trade War
While cars, tech and retail are expected to be hit hard, healthcare and other service-oriented sectors are likely to fare...
Analysts, Institutional Investors React to Trump Tariffs
Analysts at several firms have pointed to the possibility that the most recently announced tariffs are a negotiating ploy, as...
Popularity of No-Load Mutual Funds Whittles Down Fees
Expense ratios for mutual funds and ETFs have plunged over the past 28 years, per an ICI report.
Larry Fink Touts Importance of Private Assets in Annual Letter
One way to fix the “retirement gap” is to increase access to alternative investments in 401(k) plans, according to BlackRock's...
PGIM Research Examines Deglobalization’s Portfolio Implications
Approximately 25% of global GDP, including a significant number of strategic and high-tech sectors, is deglobalizing, according to the report.
PGIM Talks Deglobalization’s Portfolio Implications In New Report
Research from the asset manager shows the world is in an era of two tracks—the 25% now deglobalizing and the...
401(k)s Not the Place for Private Equity, Says Johns Hopkins Study
New research, focused on 19 of the 25 largest U.S. private equity-leveraged buyout families, argues private equity is riskier than...
Pension Risk Transfer Just Shy of Record Year in 2024
According to LIMRA, 14 carriers reported more than $1 billion in pension risk transfer sales during 2024.