Money Management Executive Latest News

INVESCO Funds Group of Denver, Colo., has opened two money market funds, originally intended only for institutional investors, to the retail market. These are the INVESCO Treasurer's Money Market Reserve Fund and the INVESCO Treasurer's Tax Exempt Reserve Fund.

American Century Investments of Kansas City, Mo. is no longer waiving fund minimums for those investors who choose to invest through automatic investment plans.

E*Trade of Palo, Alto, Calif. is now allowing smaller mutual funds into its fund supermarket in a so-called "incubator program." Until now, E*Trade had admitted funds with a minimum of about $50 million in assets under management. It will now admit funds with as little as $1 million in assets under management. The program was designed to help smaller and unknown funds break into the fund supermarket arena.

Morningstar, the mutual fund tracking firm in Chicago, plans to expand its presence on the Internet with a $91 million investment it has received from Softbank Corp. of Tokyo. Softbank invests in Internet businesses. The investment gives Softbank a 20 percent ownership interest in Morningstar. Softbank intends to build the world's first Internet conglomerate.

The Vanguard Group of Valley Forge, Pa., has created a 90-minute course for certified financial planners to present to women to help them invest. Called "Women and Money," the interactive workshop is part of Vanguard's financial education series.

Mackenzie Investment Management, a mutual fund investment adviser in Boca Raton, Fla., has launched a new family of five international funds of funds. Mackenzie calls this fund family International Solutions.

Berger Funds of Denver, Colo., has renamed its InformationTech 100 Fund the Berger Information Technology Fund. The fund will invest in companies offering hardware, software, networking and communications. This fund invests with a longer investment horizon than other technology funds, the company said in a statement.

Merrill Lynch & Co. of New York has hired a five-member team from Deutsche Asset Management of New York for a new division to create quantitative and index mutual fund and institutional products. The team consists of Frank Salerno, Anthony Conroy, Phil Green, Sid Hoots and Rick Vella. They will report to Dean D'Onofrio, managing director of the new division, Merrill Lynch Quantitative Advisors.

Although Mutual Fund Market News reported last month that PIMCO Advisors Holdings of Newport Beach, Calif., has formed a new global unit to manage its international offices, there were reports last week that PIMCO is now looking to be acquired by an international firm because it is dissatisfied with its U.S. growth.

Cash inflows into equity funds declined 25 percent in May from April, according to Strategic Insight, a mutual fund research and consulting firm in New York. Inflows into large-cap growth funds were down 50 percent and down 40 percent into S&P 500 funds from the average monthly pace so far this year, Strategic Insight found.