Portfolio

ProFunds Group has launched four leveraged international exchange-traded funds that will track the Europe, Australasia and Far East region, emerging markets, China and Japan. The funds will aim to return twice the daily performance of indexes tracking those regions.

The retirement centers of E*Trade, Fidelity and Ameritrade are the most complete of 14 leading brokerages, according to a new report from Corporate Insight.

Capital Group will cut 9% of its global workforce of 9,000, or 820 jobs, this month. This will be American Funds’ parent company’s second round of layoffs, in response to a 29% decline in assets from $1.2 trillion to $850 billion. The company eliminated 500 jobs in January.

A Connecticut bill that would have imposed transparency and licensing requirements on hedge funds failed to be signed into law Wednesday when the House of Representatives ran out of time to vote on the measure.

Long-term mutual funds experienced net inflows for the 11th straight week, the Investment Company Institute said, reaping $7.85 billion for the week ended May 27.

After so many 2010 target-date funds came up short last year, Prudential Retirement investigated how they might be improved, and decided that including retirement income guarantees would be a key benefit. They would freeze the asset allocations of target-date funds five or 10 years prior to retirement, in exchange for guaranteed income.

Financial Engines has improved its 401(k) advice services with the launch of the Financial Engines Retirement Plan, a personalized statement that addresses each investor’s savings, investments and retirement income needs.

Baring Asset Management has launched an international small-cap fund for institutional investors that will seek long-term capital growth by investing in Europe, Japan and the Far East, with the Morgan Stanley Capital International Europe Australasia Far East Small Cap Index as its benchmark.

Although the Securities and Exchange Commission is not requiring fund companies to begin producing summary prospectuses until Jan. 1, some fund companies, including the Guinness Atkinson Funds, have already started to equip investors with the plain English, four-page documents.

The mutual fund industry may be waiting in vain for inflows to return once the stock market shows steady signs of life, Dave Swanson, founder and managing principal of SwanDog Strategic Marketing, warns in a new whitepaper, “How to Save the Mutual Fund Before It’s Too Late.”As he rationalizes it, “In terms of rebuilding lost trust, here we come again, asking fund investors and sellers for another chance for the second time in the last seven years.”At age 85, the mutual fund value proposition needs revisiting. Otherwise, it will continue to lose market share to exchange-traded funds and other index and passively managed products, along with quantitative models and guaranteed investments “where investors and advisers have more control over the outcome.”The most important thing that fund companies can do, Swanson says, is give back portfolio managers their stock picking powers, so that they are not constrained by strict and narrow investment mandates that tie them to style and capitalization constraints.Second, he calls upon fund companies to revisit risk management and make this an important part of every customer communication.Fund companies need to make a case for active management by demonstrating greater accountability through performance fees that tie management fees directly to results, he adds.In addition, the tax structure is no longer competitive compared to managed money and ETFs. “Years like 2008, when many investors faced a taxable event despite deep losses, only further undermine investor trust and confidence in funds,” he said. “Now is the time to push for change, while we have capital losses on the books.”In conclusion, Swanson calls upon fund companies to respond in real time to market and economic conditions and to overhaul their shareholder communications completely. “Demand that your marketers and product team put forth a plan for how they are going to adapt their efforts to today’s environment and how they will start telling your story more effectively,” he says.