The Federal Reserve is likely to continue or even expand its self-described “highly accommodative” monetary policy for some time, according to a statement issued Wednesday at the end of a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee.

2013 could be the year that more U.S. corporate defined benefit plans kick in their liability-driven investing strategies if equity markets and bond yields continue to improve, according to an analysis of pension data by Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

Since the global financial crisis, central banks around the world have been forced to take dramatic and unprecedented actions to stabilize markets and shore up faltering economies. As a result, a high degree of global monetary policy accommodation has been part of our economic landscape for years,

Worldwide, investors in fixed-income portfolios share a common concern — the risk of rising interest rates as global economies recover and central banks tighten monetary policy.

Jeffrey Gundlach is best known as one of the best bond fund managers on the planet, but he also has a remarkable knack for predicting where markets are headed. His latest prognostication, however, should trouble investors.

Core sovereign bonds, already at historically low yields, are becoming more volatile, pushing some institutional investors to seek additional cover.

The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee voted Wednesday to keep the federal funds rate at zero to 0.25% until the unemployment rate improves, and to continue monthly purchases of $85 billion in mortgage-backed and longer-term Treasury securities.

Money managers are more optimistic about potential equity returns this year, but that optimism is guarded with negative views on world growth and medium-term government bonds, according to a survey of managers by Towers Watson.

Gradual economic growth and little progress in the unemployment rate convinced members of the Federal Open Market Committee to continue with monthly Treasury purchases of $85 billion and to keep the federal fund rate at zero to 0.25%, according to a statement from the first two-day meeting of 2013.

Treasury 10-year yields fell from the highest level in nine months after a government report showed the U.S. economy unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter.

After years of waiving fees on money market funds and only recently dodging proposals abandoned by the SEC in August that would have required funds to adopt a floating net asset value or establish a capital buffer, money fund managers once again see their industry at a watershed.