Money Management Executive Latest News

Efforts on the part of the Vanguard Group of Malvern, Pa. to develop an exchange-traded share class may have been defeated last week after a U.S. District Court decision prohibited Vanguard from offering the new share class using its S&P index funds, according to industry observers.

BOSTON - The Internet has become an important distribution channel and marketing tool for mutual fund companies of all sizes. However, as web technology becomes more complex and expensive, smaller firms are finding it more difficult to compete with the larger ones in the e-commerce world, according to industry executives who spoke here late last month at a technology forum sponsored by the National Investment Company Service Association of Boston.

A record $20.6 billion flowed out of stock mutual funds in March, the largest ever one-month outflow in dollars and the fourth largest outflow ever in percentage of assets. But, the records do not reflect most shareholder's sentiments, according to industry analysts.

Enticed by largely untapped and growing markets overseas, mutual fund companies are building assets in Europe, continuing a trend that began in the mid 1990's, according to a study released by a Luxembourg company that tracks European sales.

A mutual fund devoted to investing in casket manufacturers and funeral parlors is six feet under. So are two funds devoted to the golf industry. Other specialized funds, such as one that invested in sports interests, have also died out.

In an effort to cut costs and reach a wider audience, John Hancock Funds of Boston on May 1 held its first webcast, replacing annual road shows it has long held for advisors.

Mellon Financial Corp. of Pittsburgh has announced that it will acquire Standish, Ayer & Wood, a predominantly fixed-income investment manager based in Boston in an all cash deal. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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Money market fund assets decreased by $24.8 billion for the week ending Wednesday, May 2, dropping total money market fund assets to $2.1 trillion, according to the Investment Company Institute of Washington, D.C.

Rydex Funds of Rockville, Md. has hired Mark Adams to fill a newly created position as marketing manager for the company’s retail channel, a Rydex spokesperson said. Adams most recently was director of institutional marketing at FOLIOfn of Vienna, Va.