Portfolio

Investors pulled $324.4 billion from money market mutual funds in the first quarter, the largest quarterly outflow ever tracked by Morningstar. Approximately $148.2 billion left the funds in March, Morningstar said.

Assets in 401(k) plans and other retirement accounts are up 18% from a year ago and have nearly erased losses from the recession as investors continue to pump money into their plans and take advantage of lower prices, according to a report from the Spectrem Group.

Money market funds are the stepchildren of finance. Though they manage more than $4 trillion in assets, they have not gotten much attention recently. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.)'s regulatory reform proposal does not even mention money market funds, which we believe is a glaring mistake.

Stock Fund Fees Edge up 2 BPS to 0.86%

Money funds should be regulated like banks, McCulley said.

PIMCO Exec Seeks Money Fund ReformMoney funds should be regulated like banks, McCulley said.JMMoney market mutual funds contributed to the instability of the financial system and should not exist in their current form, said Paul McCulley, a managing director at PIMCO, at a Levy Economics Institute conference last week.McCulley, who runs PIMCO's approximately $500 million money market fund, said the temporary run on money funds in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 showed that money funds need an emergency capital backstop to prevent future runs. If such a backstop is granted, the funds should be regulated like banks, he said.McCulley's remarks followed a call by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker for tighter restrictions on the types of assets in which money funds can invest.Money market mutual funds contributed to the instability of the financial system and should not exist in their current form, said Paul McCulley, a managing director at PIMCO, at a Levy Economics Institute conference last week.

In addition to some high-profile Hollywood exports, the Australia continues to surge. But investment options remain limited.

A lawmaker and a Treasury Department official Thursday pushed for a permanent extension of the Build America Bond program, but acknowledged that the greatest obstacle is finding a way to pay for it.

The fund giant may replace the former president with two executives.

In line with its own worst-case-scenario forecast, Charles Schwab Corp. reported a significant decline in first-quarter earnings due in part to a 19% decline in trading revenue. The San Francisco-based discount brokerage company announced Thursday that profits declined 45% to $119 million, or 10 cents per share, from $218 million, or 19 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue declined 12% to $978 million.