Money Management Executive Latest News

States and local governments boosted debt sales to $43.7 billion so far in December, the highest monthly total in at least a year.

The SPDR Nuveen Barclays Build America Bond ETF proved the best choice during a record-setting year for muni exchange- traded funds. Its 20.6 % gain through Dec. 23 was highest among the 26 muni ETFs tracked by Bloomberg.

Investors in the world’s biggest ETP backed by bullion sold the most gold in 18 months as the U.S. economic recovery cut demand for a haven.

The ETF industry in the U.S. has finally broken through the $2 trillion milestone, demonstrating the product’s surge in popularity with investors. Through December 22nd, assets have increased 18% in 2014 from $1.698 trillion to $2.007 trillion based on positive market performance and net new assets.

As investors pull billions out of commodities, Yale University Professor K. Geert Rouwenhorst’s funds are still attracting new money. SummerHaven Investment Management oversaw $1.5 billion as of November, from $600 million in January, even as raw-material prices fell and its exchange-traded fund declined.

F-Squared Investments agreed to pay $35 million over U.S. regulatory claims that it misled investors about the performance of a trading strategy used by exchange-traded funds.

BlackRock, Macquarie Group and Millennium Capital Management former employees are planning a Hong Kong-based hedge fund which will use computer models to spot trading opportunities in 13 Asian stock markets.

This past week saw a number of new offerings in exchange traded products and funds from Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, KraneShares and FirstTrust, among others. Also, Van Eck Global closes five international-themed funds.

Janus shares surged 43% on Sept. 26, their biggest one-day gain ever, after it announced that Bill Gross would join the firm from Pimco. Hiring Gross was the boldest step yet in an almost five-year effort by Richard M. Weil to attract new money and change the public perception of Janus, a firm still known primarily for its growth-equity funds.

The industry saw Bill Gross attracting $769 million to Janus, the global ETP market breaking an asset record, a prediction on how much of 401(k) contributions that target-date funds will capture by the end of the decade and a J.P. Morgan executive joining Wilton, Conn.,-based Commonfund as CEO.