Money Management Executive Latest News

Fund managers need to focus on more than the strategies they intend to execute. They must also structure their funds and organizations in ways that address both increasing regulation and investors' concerns about the safekeeping of assets.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is weighing a bid for Frank Russell Co.’s asset management arm, a business the London Stock Exchange Group is preparing to sell early next year, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Concerns about an over-proliferation of ETFs, curiosity regarding how market demand will shape product innovation and questions about the direction of regulation are expected to punctuate discussions among those attending the 19th annual IMN global Indexing and ETF Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., that begins on Dec. 7.

Man Group, the largest publicly traded hedge fund manager in the world, will buy fund-of-hedge funds assets from Merrill Lynch Alternative Investments to expand in the U.S. The London-based firm will acquire the contracts to manage Merrill’s $1.2 billion multi-strategy investments, and will pay Merrill Lynch $2.9 million when the deal closes and 35% of the management fees generated annually for five years, not to exceed $30 million.

Bill Gross’s main bond fund at Janus Capital Group Inc. received an estimated $769 million in new money last month, bringing assets above $1 billion. His Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund reported assets of $1.21 billion as of Nov. 28. That’s an increase from $442.9 million from the prior month.

Supplying Chinese equity demand is not a simple process of deciding to launch an ETF product, providers say. There are a number of operational challenges that a firm must navigate to make the offering available, including managing a complex system of global exchange that involves precise timings and potential risks for clients.

Hedge funds are betting that the oil- price crash is close to ending. Speculators boosted their net-long position in West Texas Intermediate crude by 14% in the week ended Dec. 2, the most in 20 months, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Short bets contracted by 15% as long wagers expanded 4%.

The industry saw dollar hedge demand strong among ETFs, another insurer acquiring an asset manager and the second ETF provider to offer U.S. investors access to China's onshore bond market.

Bill Gross’s exit unleashed a crisis that Pimco is still trying to contain. His departure was followed by record withdrawals from the mutual fund he once ran, and which he built into the world’s biggest.

The world of what one might broadly label values-based investing has changed and expanded significantly in recent years. It has largely been a niche sector, albeit a growing one. But some advisors expect generational changes to affect future growth.