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• Manulife to Enter Japan Mutual Fund Market

  With Japanese households worth more than $14 trillion, and half of that in cash or postal accounts, Manulife Financial Corp. has decided to enter the nation's mutual fund market.

• State Street Unit Opens Office in Qatar

  State Street Corp. opened an office in Doha, Qatar, to expand in the Middle East.

• Wood Creek Launches an Offshore Fund

  Wood Creek Capital Management of New Haven, an alternative asset management company, launched Rosemount Capital Management's offshore fund.

• Credit Suisse Has Global Designs for AMF

  Credit Suisse Group's alternative investments business plans an international expansion for the recently acquired Asset Management Finance Corp., using joint ventures to enter new regions and sectors.

• Sequoia Raises $725 Million for Indian Fund

  Sequoia Capital, the Menlo Park, Calif., venture firm, has raised $725 million for its second India-focused investment fund.

• Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets Decline 5.1% to $24.81 Trillion

  Assets in mutual funds worldwide declined 5.1% to $24.81 trillion by the end of the first quarter.

• SEC to Distribute Funds to Putnam, Janus Investors

  The SEC said it would distribute millions of dollars to investors harmed by market-timing trading violations in mutual funds managed by Putnam Investment Management and Janus Capital Management.

• Vanguard Reopens Two Funds, Signaling Weak Market

  In spite of their strong records, two Vanguard funds that have been suffering steep redemptions will now be reopened to investors.

• Threadneedle Launches Two Global Mutual Funds

  The funds are available through Threadneedle and RiverSource Investments, both of which are wholly owned subsidiaries of Ameriprise Financial.

• Vanguard International Fund Begins to Invest Directly in Stocks

  Vanguard is now permitting its largest international fund, the Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund, to purchase foreign stock directly.

• Fidelity Buying Up China Shares

  Fidelity Investments is returning to China's stock markets hoping to find values and that inflation has reached an apex.

• Morningstar Taps Global RE, Currency, for New Coverage

  The company announced it has added two new categories and one broad asset class to its proprietary classification system for mutual fund portfolios.

• New Fund Directive Gets EU's 'Irish' Up

  The fourth stage of the pending UCITS directives has been temporarily tabled following outcries from Ireland and Luxembourg.

• Argentina Cuts Tax Breaks for Mutual Funds

  Despite market opposition, Argentina recently cut tax breaks for mutual funds and financial trusts, satisfying the center-left government promise to raise taxes on financial earnings.

• Market Opportunities Still Exist

  The low-hanging fruit is gone, but there are still places to find profit if investors know where to look and avoid the herds.

• Dollar Gains Don't Devalue Foreign Investments

  Even though the dollar appears to be stabilizing, and even gaining against foreign currencies, investors should not abandon the international markets.

• Indian Funds Begin to Plummet

  India's booming fund management industry has started to decline as the Indian stock market has plunged nearly a third so far this year.

• French Funds Suffering in 2008

  After a sharp fall in the market, assets under management (AUM) within the French mutual fund industry fell 6% last month.

• Chinese Fund Investors Blame Managers for Steep Losses

  The honeymoon between Chinese mutual fund investors and the surging market appears to be over.

• Where Has All the Alpha Gone?

  The small group of money mangers who possessed the ability to outperform the market has virtually disappeared.

• Mutual Fund Value Hunters Go Hungry

  Firms that focus on value stocks have been slammed recently, as financial stocks like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae continue to struggle.

• Evergreen's CEO on His Multi-Boutique Legacy

  Before Dennis Ferro retires as CEO at Evergreen Investments, he wants to expand its alternative investment capabilities and its international distribution.

• As Mutual Fund Industry Flourished, Templeton Seemingly Vanished

  The late John Templeton created the Templeton Growth Fund back in 1954, but many articles about his passing avoided this subject when they summarized his life.

• Ameriprise Acquires J&W Seligman for $440M

  Ameriprise Financial finalized a $440 million deal to purchase J&W Seligman in the fourth quarter.

• Commodities, Natural Resources Lead 2Q08 Growth

  Threats of further losses throughout financial institutions, concerns of inflation, and record high oil prices continue to persist.

• China Denies Holding Mutual Fund Officials 'Hostage'

  As the Olympic Games approach, China has become continually worried about its public image and financial status.

• Banking's Russell 3,000 Slice Falls to 8-Year Low

  Declining market capitalizations for financial companies in the Russell 3,000 index have pushed the sector's weighting to its lowest level in eight years.

• Vanguard Adds Its 52nd Index Fund

  Vanguard Group has a new international fund, the Vanguard Total World Stock Index Fund.

• Boring Is Beautiful

  Mutual Funds had a rough 12 months, making formerly ho-hum asset classes suddenly sexy.

• Golden Globe

  How one advisor crossed continents to bring borderless financial advice to wealthy international clients.

• Stock, Bond Funds Net Nearly $35B in May

  Stock and bond mutual funds garnered $34.6 billion net inflows in May, with global-focused funds raking in the most.

• Merrill Buys Chilean Brokerage

  Merrill Lynch & Co. bought Ureta y Bianchi Corredores de Bolsa, a Chilean equity brokerage firm.

• Meet the B-D Powerhouses: Fund Selection Units

  Institutionalized gatekeepers bring fund sales to a new level of sophistication.

• $75B in Mutual Fund Inflows for May

  Positive figures were posted for all types of fund products, including money market funds.

• Mutual Funds in Japan Lack Transparency

  Japan's domestic asset management reports are not disclosing the way they vote on various resolutions brought up at annual shareholders meeting

• Alternative Unit for State Street

  State Street Corp. said it has combined its global alternative investment services capabilities into a single unit.

• BarCap Cuts London Jobs, Seeks Commodities Headcount Increase

  Firm eyes 30% headcount growth in commodities division over next two years.

• Int'l Long Term Growth Latest Target for Janus

  Janus Capital Group launched a long-term growth fund aimed at international markets today—the Janus Adviser International Forty Fund (JFFAX), managed by Laurent Saltiel.

• Fidelity Starts Fund for International Tilt

  The Fidelity Emerging Europe, Middle East, Africa Fund, is to be offered in both retail and adviser share classes.

• WisdomTree Files for U.S., International Growth Funds

  The WisdomTree LargeCap Growth Fund will cover the U.S., while the WisdomTree International LargeCap Growth Fund.

• Vanguard Adds Scottish Fund Adviser

  Vanguard Group has added Edinburgh Partners Ltd. as a subadviser to its international value fund.

• Morgan Stanley Launches Two ETNs

  Advisors interested in increasing exposure to foreign currency markets have two new exchange-traded notes (ETNs) to, well, take note of.

• Where The Growth Is: Infrastructure

  A global fund manager explains his outlook.

• Currency Jitters Spur Inflation Fears

  Large caps and Treasury Inflation-Protected Services are good positions in a worldwide inflationary environment.

• Going Global Now

  Your clients still need international diversification, but navigating the world's investment opportunities has become trickier, to say the least.

• Global High Performers

  A special report featuring Global High Performers based on growth, return to investors and future prospects.

• Marathon Opens an Office in Turkey

  Marathon Asset Management LLC opened its first office in Turkey.

• Fund Times: Vanguard Plans Global Stock Index Fund

  Fund changes announced by Vanguard, TIAA-CREF, Turner and RiverSource.

• Sovereign Sway

  As U.S. financial companies struggle with subprime-mortgage writeoffs, currently hovering at $400 billion, their plummeting stock prices have made them a hot SWF target.

• The Lowdown on Sovereign Wealth Funds

  At $2.9 trillion and growing, sovereign wealth funds have been investing in Western financial companies for years, but only recently have they been flying high enough above the radar to attract attention from Washington.

• Beijing's Inaction Unsettles Markets

  WSJ.com: Investors looking for relief from China's bear market have instead found a new reason to sell stocks: government inaction. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 4% 3668.90, putting the Shanghai index down 40% in the past five months.

• ETFs Take Hit as Bear Collapse Stokes New Credit Fears

  WSJ.com: Exchange-traded funds tracking stocks around the world fell yesterday as the collapse of Bear Stearns Cos. and the efforts by the Federal Reserve to avert a potential run on banks stoked fresh credit fears. The broad-market SPDR S&P 500 ETF traded lower by more than 1%; the Dow Diamonds ETF initially dropped a similar amount but was up slightly by day's end as the Dow Jones Industrial Average bounced higher.

• Darfur Outrage Spreads to Mutual Funds

  WSJ.com: Many mutual-fund shareholders this proxy season will be voting on a politically charged question: whether to discourage investment in companies doing business in Sudan, whose government is accused of abetting genocide.

• 4 Smart Ways to Play the Sinking Greenback

  Here are four ideas for turning the dollar's decline into higher investment returns.

• Exotic Stocks: Investors Flee, But Pros Don't

  WSJ.com: Fears of a U.S. recession and its potential impact on developing markets are spooking skittish small investors, but many professional money managers are getting more bullish on emerging markets.

• Investors Flock to Foreign Bonds

  WSJ.com: Investors Flock to Foreign Bonds: Amid dollar weakness, funds offer exposure to other currencies with less risk than stocks. After embracing foreign-stock funds in recent years, investors are now starting to pay increasing attention to foreign-bond funds.

• Morningstar Fund Manager of the Year Winners

  Find out who won the 2007 fund manager awards and look back on previous winners.

• Diversifying Isn't Paying Off This Year

  WSJ.com: Overseas shares have suffered this year together with their U.S. counterparts, putting the plans of many individual investors to the test. Drawn by outsize returns and a desire to diversify their portfolios, Americans sent mountains of investment dollars abroad last year. Mutual funds that invest primarily outside the U.S. finished last year with $138 billion in net inflows from customers, according to the Investment Company Institute.

• Canada Fund Rides Robust Economy

  WSJ.com: Maxime Lemieux, manager of $4.6 billion Fidelity Canada Fund, has put this country-specific portfolio on the map with consistent, chart-topping results and careful attention to risk. The fund returned 35% last year, trouncing its international multicap-core category average by almost 23 percentage points.

• Mr. Lynn Hits the Road to Run His Fund

  WSJ.com: Brent Lynn took sole responsibility for the Janus Overseas in 2003 and the fund's calculated moves have generated hefty returns for shareholders. Lynne says he follows two principles: fundamental research and long-term investing.

• Investing Hints from a Winner

  WSJ.com: While markets world-wide have been tanking, the Ruffer Total Return mutual fund turned a 4.4% profit over the past three months. Manager Steve Russell and his team saw the huge credit crash coming from a long way off and investors' money into gold, Swiss and Norwegian government bonds, and Japanese yen.

• Dreyfus Lends Its Clout to Foreign Bond, Cash ETFs

  WSJ.com: Dreyfus Corp., a unit of Bank of New York Mellon Corp., and WisdomTree Investments Inc. said Friday that they are teaming up to create ETFs for the international cash and fixed-income markets. The products will be co-branded and marketed by both firms.

• Financial Advisers Eye International Funds, REITs

  For financial advisers looking to broaden their product menus, recent research says, international mutual funds and real estate investment trusts are the most attractive additions. Bruce Harrington, a managing director at Cogent Research in Cambridge, Mass., said that these and other open-end mutual fund categories have the potential to gain market share within two years.

• The Devil Is in the Details

  Defining an "international" investment in a globalized world.

• U.S. Investors Increasingly Look Overseas

  A Schroders study reveals foreign investments vary by age and gender.

• The International Gold Rush

  As clients extend their global reach, advisors shouldn't be far behind.

• Beyond the Traditional Currency Play

  The emergence of a yen-based ETF, among others, is giving the arena a new shape.

• Reaping International Rewards

  For clients to get the full benefits of foreign equities, they must think long.

• Morningstar Buys S&P's Mutual Fund Data

  In signing $55 million deal, the Chicago-based information provider absorbs a domestic competitor, expands into global markets.