Money Management Executive Latest News

In some ways, today's mutual fund industry hardly resembles the fund business of a decade ago. During the past 10 years, the industry has exploded from under $600 billion in assets under management to about $6 trillion. Alternative products, such as separately managed accounts, have gained favor, while the number of funds has nearly doubled from 3,892 at year-end 1992 to 6,537.

By all accounts, the mutual fund industry is not perched on the cusp of any technological revolution. Future technological advances in the fund industry are likely to be made in incremental steps to improve efficiency, offer higher levels of customer service or network with business partners.

While Wall Street ripped roariously with scandal after scandal in 2002, the fund giants appeared to sit sanguinely on the sidelines. Insiders, on the other hand, know that the mutual fund industry didn't quite get by without a few scrapes of its own.

Reporter & Editor, 1999-Present Mutual Fund Market News

Prudential Financial has restructured its two domestic mutual fund families into Jennison/Dryden and Strategic Partners.

Fidelity Investments has launched the Fidelity Discovery Value Fund, an all-cap value portfolio benchmarked off the Russell 3000 Value Index. While Fidelity has a much broader slate of growth-oriented funds, this new product underscores the company's interest in value investing, said Phil de Cristo, Fidelity EVP.

Janus will reopen four of its funds, including the flagship Janus Fund, which has declined nearly 27% year to date; the Janus Worldwide Fund, which has posted a negative return of 25.6%; the Janus Global Technology Fund, negative 38.6%; and the Janus Global Life Sciences Fund, down nearly 30%.

In the face of one of the most difficult markets in the history of the fund industry, Dreyfus' assets and market share have outpaced the competition, vaulting it from the 13th largest fund organization in the U.S. in 2000 to fifth place, noted Stephen E. Canter, Dreyfus chairman and CEO.

"The government's pixie dust seems to have lost a bit of its magic," writes Bill Gross, managing director, PIMCO, in his December 2002 Investment Outlook, referring to the current 1.25% Fed Funds rate.

Mutual Fund Market News was launched at the annual Investment Company Institute General Membership Meeting in May 1993. The publication, which replaced Dalbar's FACS of the Week, was designed to be the mutual fund industry's newsweekly of record.