Money Management Executive Latest News

Total U.S. mutual fund assets continued to fall in November, according to the Investment Company Institute of Washington, D.C. Mutual fund assets, which have decreased the past three months, dropped 5.2 percent to $6.68 trillion in November, the lowest total since November of 1999, according to the ICI.

The Bank of New York is cooperating with the Agricultural Bank of China to develop open-end mutual funds there, the Bank of New York announced last month. The two banks have signed a memorandum of cooperation such that the Bank of New York will provide technological backup and training to Agricultural Bank of China so it can establish an open-end investment fund system, the bank said.

PERU-- Fund managers in Peru have suffered a major setback as a result of the political turbulence the country has been going through since the beginning of last year. Local mutual funds, for example, are estimated to have accumulated asset losses amounting to $70 million (US) through December.

Top executives from Putnam Investments of Boston have recently concluded an extensive round of negotiations in Chile, holding successful talks with the management of eight pension fund managers in the Chilean pension system. Their visit to Chile was motivated by the recent approval of Putnam funds by the Risk Rating Commission (CCR), a state sponsored rating agency.

Mutual funds will see outflows of more than $1 trillion by 2010, according to Forrester Research of Cambridge, Mass. In the same period, the number of mutual funds will be cut in half, according to the company. The predictions are based on the outlook of financial service dot coms and the alternative investment vehicles they offer.

The ARK Family of Mutual Funds of Baltimore will begin the second phase of its outdoor billboard advertising campaign next week, according to the company.

Warburg Pincus of New York is asking shareholders of one of its funds to approve plans to fire BlackRock Investment Management, also of New York, as a sub-adviser to the Warburg Pincus Cash Reserve Fund, according to a proxy statement filed earlier this month with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

TIAA-CREF of New York is developing a new advertising campaign, according to Mike Fegan, a spokesperson for the company.

Mutual Fund Investment Trust of New York has filed a proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking to merge the H&Q IPO & Emerging Company Fund, a series of Hambrecht & Quist Fund Trust of San Francisco, with Mutual Fund Investment Trust's newly-created Chase Vista H&Q IPO & Emerging Company Fund. The Hambrecht & Quist Group was recently acquired by The Chase Manhattan Bank of New York.

Centurion Funds of Phoenix, Ariz. has filed a proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking to do a one-for-three reverse split in its Centurion U.S. Contra Fund.