Portfolio

Equity funds were clobbered in the first quarter of 2009, declining 9.25%, Lipper reported last week. Performance would have been even worse, were it not for a surprise rally in March.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering eliminating the stable, $1 net asset value (NAV) requirement that money market mutual funds have long held, by either making the funds have a floating $1 NAV or a $10 NAV.

All things considered, earning $46 million in 2008 was far less than the $81 million Mario Gabelli of Gamco took home in 2007 and the $81 million he pocketed in 2002, DealBook reports, citing a proxy filing.

Suspending 401(k) matches for just one year can save most companies millions of dollars a year, but doing so can very negatively impact participants’ savings rates and long-term retirement outlook, and should be avoided, according to Hewitt Associates.

PIMCO has promoted 78 of its executives, with 12 now executive vice president, 24 senior vice president and 42 vice president.

Money funds netted $12.2 billion in the week ended April 8, the Investment CompanyInstitute announced. Total assets in money market funds reached $3.846 trillion.

Investors are looking for more flexibility than being locked into investment style boxes that fall in and out of favor. Merely beating a benchmark but still being in the red by double-digits doesn’t do investors any good.

Putnam has hired yet another executive from Fidelity, Walter C. Donovan, who will serve as chief investment officer. A 25-year veteran of financial services, he was president of Fidelity’s equity division, overseeing portfolio management, investment research and trading.

Several signs indicate the current bear market rally is nearing its end, and the next imminent sell-off of equities could finally break investors' spirit, according to Barron's columnist Michael Kahn.

Investors liked the idea of absolute return mutual funds, pumping $149.6 million into Putnam Investments' suite of the funds in their inaugural quarter.