Money Management Executive Latest News

Cash influxes into municipal bond mutual funds slowed a bit again last week as muni prices continued to cool off.Investors entrusted $470 million to muni funds that report weekly numbers during the week ended Feb. 25, according to AMG Data Services. That represents a dip from $535.9 million the previous week and more than $700 million the two weeks before that.Still, this was the eighth consecutive week of inflows following 15 weeks of outflows at the end of 2008.Fund managers are now enjoying steady cash flow following a period when assets at all muni funds - including those that report monthly - shriveled to $342 billion from $391 billion, reflecting both outflows and market declines.Earlier this year, funds enjoyed their biggest inflows since May. They followed a red-hot rally in munis during which the yield on the triple-A in 10 years, based on the Municipal Market Data scale, compressed from 4.21% on Dec. 15 to as low as 2.84% on Feb. 12.That rally has since stalled, with the yield creeping back up to about 3.1%, according to MMD.

Reserve Management Co.'s board has set aside $3.5 billion of the remaining assets in its failed Primary Fund to cover costs and expenses for pending lawsuits against the fund.

Institutional and retail investors continue to seek safety in money market mutual funds, with total assets of money market mutual funds rising by $9.42 billion to $3.888 trillion for the week ending Feb. 25, according to the Investment Company Institute.

401(k) plans in which employers match contributions have contribution rates as much as 9 percentage points higher than those that don’t, Fidelity Investments found. And when combined with immediate vesting, contribution rates climb to 11 percentage points higher.

Older Baby Boomers appear to be doing a better job of preparing for retirement than younger Boomers, though both groups are sorely underprepared for their golden years, MetLife found in a survey.

Closed-end fund shops like Eaton Vance could historically count on steady asset-based fees and additional profits from issuing auction-rate preferred shares. But due to the problems in that market, the company’s first quarter revenue and fees have fallen sharply, dragging down its net income 57%.

Amid all of the gloom, some stalwart financial planners are telling their customers that there are unheard of bargains in the stock market, the National Post reports.

Fidelity Investments is expanding its capital markets division by 20%, or 80 positions, in trading, sales, prime brokerage and operations to serve clients trading mutual funds and hedge funds.

The average account balance of 401(k) investors that MassMutual administers fell 25% in 2008, but, nonetheless, participants are sticking with the plans.

Connecticut lawmakers have proposed hedge fund regulations, including obtaining a license, annual audit, disclosure of fees and significant changes in management or investment strategy, as well as a higher minimum investment threshold of $2.5 million for individuals and $5 million for institutions.