Thomas Soviero unseated Ken Heebner as manager of the best-performing diversified U.S. stock fund over the past 10 years. His secret: Companies with poor credit.

Global exchange-traded fund assets surged by 6.7% in the first quarter, to $1.399 trillion, with investors pouring a net $41.4 billion into ETFs — more than double their investments in the first quarter of 2010, BlackRock Inc. said.

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B. Riley FBR initiated equity coverage of the mortgage giant, citing housing finance reform proposals that could result in Fannie and Freddie Mac being released from conservatorship.

The moves are part of an ongoing effort by the Seattle bank to largely exit mortgage lending.

The two banks will each give $15 million to the Foundation for the Carolinas, which supports affordable housing development in Mecklenburg County.

The Federal Reserve has made clear it intends to stamp out inflation no matter what, and that means interest rates are likely returning to the old normal of the  late 1980s and 1990s.  But interest rates on savings accounts haven't caught up. 

As the GSEs enter their 15th year in conservatorship, shareholders are wondering when they'll get their company back.

Leaders of the Bank Policy Institute and The Clearing House say their conferences are neither profit centers nor potential conflicts of interest for regulators in response to a recent BankThink piece that describes the meeting as an example of overly cozy relationships between banks and regulators.