Portfolio

MIAMI - With the average equity mutual fund portfolio down more than 38% in 2008, money market mutual funds are quickly becoming one of the only safe havens for risk-averse investors. Money market fund assets recently topped $4 trillion for the first time, making money funds the single largest mutual fund group, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Some hedge fund customers are getting their money back by selling their shares on the secondary market, Dow Jones reports. Hedge funds see this as an alternative to locking up customers’ money through so-called “gates.”

Separately managed accounts’ claim that they pick only the cream of the crop to manage investors’ money appears to have dogged it in the fourth quarter, The Wall Street Journal reports. Disappointed in less-than-stellar returns, investors withdrew assets from SMA accounts held at brokerage firms at a far more rapid pace than they did from mutual funds.

Putnam Investments has hired David Glancy as managing director and portfolio manager. A leading fund manager in both equity and high-yield debt, Glancy has been asked to also cover bank debt and undervalued and leveraged companies.

RiverSource Investments has launched the RiverSource Recovery and Infrastructure Fund, an open-end mutual fund that will seek long-term opportunities around the world.

Morningstar has developed a series of 18 asset allocation indexes for investors and advisers to use as benchmarks for target-date and target-risk funds.

Outflows from hedge funds soared to $74 billion in January, the second-highest level on record, according to TrimTabs.

As the global financial landscape continues to reshape, mergers and acquisitions this year will be led by those firms seeking capital or those that have capital in hand to put to work, according to Jefferies Putnam Lovell.

Of all of the possible defensive investment choices available, healthcare funds are doing the best, up 2.8% year-to-date, The Wall Street Journal reports. Strong earnings, healthy balance sheets, steady demand and industry consolidation are fortifying the sector, which is even beating telecommunications and consumer staples.

Kimberly Mustin has joined Legg Mason as managing director and head of institutional business, Americas.