Money Management Executive Latest News

Outflows from stock mutual funds topped $11 billion, according to the Investment Company Institute. Lipper earlier put the figure at $8 billion (see MFMN 3/24/03).

The bear continues to roar. In the first quarter of the year, the average U.S. equity stock mutual fund fell 1.5%, while the average bond fund returned 2%, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing Lipper data.

Putnam Investments has unveiled a set of retirement products designed to help investors with asset allocation.

Vanguard has adopted new Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) indexes for seven of its funds, including the $7.4 billion Vanguard Growth Index Fund. As Mutual Fund Market News reported in September, these replace indexes from Standard & Poor’s on six of the funds, and the Russell 2000 Index on the $4 billion Vanguard Small-Cap Index fund.

Charles Schwab said that the in the fourth quarter of 2002, participants in 401(k) self-directed brokerage accounts (SDBA) directed most of their investments into equities, a marked contrast to the 95% of investments that gravitated to conservative taxable bond funds, asset-allocation funds, fixed income securities and money market funds in the third quarter.

Wachovia Retirement Services is launching AdviceTrack, a new defined contribution program that will allow plan sponsors to boost contributions while enabling employees to delegate asset allocation and investment decisions to experts.

HILTON HEAD, S.C. – Financial services companies are missing out on a tremendous opportunity by not meeting women’s retirement needs, according to a presentation here at the Retirement Income Conference, sponsored by the National Association for Variable Annuities.

Only 10% of Americans have ever heard of a 529, according to a survey by Oppenheimer. But a recent feature in Parenting magazine highlighting the investment vehicles might help to change that. In fact, the magazine piece is so praiseworthy and so understandably written that any mutual fund company running a 529 plan might want to run out and pick up the April issue.

Pioneer Investment Management is not for sale, may, in fact, make some acquisitions, and is broadening its offerings to include an annuity line in the second quarter and hedge funds by the third.

Bank of America launched its first registered hedge fund of funds April 1.