Money Management Executive Latest News

While A shares and B shares took in the lion's share of money during the 1980s and 1990s, today that's changing, Investor's Business Daily reports. In fact, last year, no-load funds took in 80%, or $154 billion, of the total $192 billion invested in long-term funds, data from the Investment Company Institute shows.

Vanguard has added five additional Target Retirement Funds to its current offering of six such funds. The five new funds are geared for those planning to retire in 2010, 2020, 2030, 2040 and 2050. They join Vanguard's existing Target Retirement Funds for those planning to retire in 2005, 2015, 2025, 2035 and 2045, plus one income fund.

Responding to the burgeoning growth in international and global mutual funds, Russell Investment Group is planning to launch global indexes in the fourth quarter, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Assets in 529 college savings plans rose 38% in the first quarter from a year ago, the College Savings Foundation announced. Assets topped $75.1 billion in the quarter, compared to $54.5 billion in the first quarter of 2005.

Standard & Poor's has lowered its debt rating on Fidelity Investments from stable to negative, citing how the company has lost business to competitors and diversified its business into areas other than mutual fund asset management, Bloomberg reports.

Wilmington Trust has changed the name and the strategy behind its Wilmington Multi-Manager Real Estate Securities Fund.

Vanguard next month will introduce a new share class for institutional clients, called Signal Shares. The new class will initially apply to 12 equity and fixed-income index funds, with fees ranging between nine and 13 basis points. Eventually, Vanguard will apply the share class to more of its funds.

The Federal Reserve's 16 consecutive hikes in interest rates are giving institutional and retail investors newly found respect for cash and money market funds, The Wall Street Journal reports.

While hedge funds are known to outperform the markets, earlier studies have repeatedly shown they rarely do for a protracted period of time. But a new report, by the National Bureau of Economic Research, to be issued this month, shows that many of them do, in fact, beat the markets for a long period of time, The New York Times reports.

Citing a need for an organization to support financial advisers, accountants, insurance agents, attorneys and other professionals who serve the high-net-worth market, a group of advisers from around the nation has launched the Wealth Advisor Institute (WAI).