The Investment Company Institute has created a committee for exchange traded funds in what some say is an effort to head off the possibility that ETF providers will create their own trade association.
Federated Investors Inc. launched the Federated Kaufmann Large Cap Fund this month in a bid to capitalize further on the success of star managers Lawrence E. Auriana and Hans P. Utsch.
One very large player figured only marginally in the scandals of the 1990s — the $7 trillion mutual fund industry.
Fund Architects LLC, which promises to provide small investors with institutional-quality money management, legitimately can claim that it thinks outside the box.
The firms will join forces to offer international cash- and fixed-income exchange traded fund products.
Stephen Lieber, lead portfolio manager of the Alpine Dynamic Innovators Fund (ADINX), said he is starting 2008 with a portfolio positioned to be nimble by allocating nearly half the $68 million fund to cash.
Mutual fund companies largely have been immune to lawsuits stemming from the subprime-mortgage crisis, but that soon may change.
Investors are becoming interested in environmentally aware companies from an economic rather than a socially conscious perspective, and many are turning to their financial advisers for help in going green.
A meeting of some 50 independent mutual fund chairmen and lead directors this week could result in the creation of a permanent organization for independent fund executives.
Guidance regarding "soft dollars," or the use of brokerage commissions to pay for research and other services, soon will be proposed for mutual fund directors, a Securities and Exchange Commission official said.
While Fidelity Investments has reopened its famed Magellan Fund, advisers remain skeptical and are keeping a close eye on its performance.
Another filing for actively managed ETFs was made last week, an indication that 2008 might be the year investors can finally invest in them.
Van Eck Global launched trading of the Market Vectors–Coal ETF on the New York Stock Exchange today.
This is the year for the SEC to settle the 12(b)-1 issue. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox has pledged to examine the fee system, questioning whether the use of 12(b)-1 fees has moved away from the original intent, which was to cover marketing and distribution expenses.
As 2008 gets under way, publicly traded money manager stocks' ability to hold up to the market pressure that felled other financial services stocks last year is being questioned.
Assets invested in exchange traded funds grew by $32 billion, or 5.5%, to $608 billion in November.
Despite fierce competition, mutual fund net sales will grow at 2% annually, hitting $340 billion by 2012, FRC predicted.
The center features a search functionality that allows customers to identify ETFs that meet certain investment criteria.
European assets in ETFs surged 27% to €89 billion ($131.2 billion) in 2007, according to data released by Deutsche Bank.
Putnam Investments is paying the price for calling the bottom in financial stocks too early.
