NEWS SCAN
Harbor Docks Value Fund On Causeway
Los Angeles-based Causeway Capital Management LLC has replaced Pzena Investment Management, LLC as subadviser to the Harbor Global Value Fund, effective May 25. Pzena had served as subadviser since August 7, 2006.
Value Line Adds Value By Combining Funds
Value Line Funds' shareholders have approved combining the Value Line New York Tax Exempt Trust (VLNYX) into the Value Line Tax Exempt Fund (VLHYX).
Shareholders of the Value Line New York Tax Exempt Trust received 0.92062 shares for each share owned as of May 18. Both funds have been managed by Liane Rosenberg since February 2010.
Pioneer Takes Cullen Out of Value Fund
Pioneer Investments has put a new portfolio management team in place to manage the Pioneer Cullen Value Fund (CVFCX), effective August 1.
Also, the funds will be renamed Pioneer Fundamental Value Fund and Pioneer Fundamental Value VCT Portfolio, effective June 30.
Vanguard Slashes Fees
Vanguard is eliminating or reducing fees on 34 mutual funds.
As of May 23, the firm said its investors will no longer have to pay contingent redemption fees for selling shares of a number of index and actively managed Vanguard funds.
RESEARCH
Managed Accounts Reach $2.5T
Washington, D.C.-based Money Management Institute today released the early edition of MMI CENTRAL Q2 2012, a statistical overview of data and trends for the managed account solutions industry for Q1 2012.
In Q1, MMI found that advisory solution assets grew to $2.5 trillion - an increase of 9%, or $212 billion, nearly double the increase during the fourth quarter of 2011.
Are Advisors Dumping Alts and ETFs?
New findings from Tiburon Strategic Advisors reveal some interesting facts about advisors' appetite, or lack thereof, for headline grabbing products such as alternatives and exchange-traded funds.
Specifically, Tiburon reveals that advisors intend to increase their usage of index funds by one-third while decreasing their usage in exchange trade funds, alternative investments, and variable annuities by over 30% each.
PRODUCTS
Arrow Aims For Institutions
Arrow Investment Advisors has launched an institutional share class (Class I) for each of the firm's five tactical and alternative investment mutual funds.
"Our decision to introduce a new institutional share class is in direct response to client demand as advisors seek lower-cost access to non-traditional investment strategies such as managed futures and other alternatives," stated Day Thomas, Director, Institutional Relationships at Arrow Funds.
iShares Preps Latin Bond Fund
iShares has filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch the iShares Latin America Bond Fund, which is benchmarked to the Barclays Latin America Bond Index.
The index measures the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated bond markets of corporate, sovereign and quasi-sovereign issuers domiciled in Latin America. As of April 30, the index's five highest weighted countries were Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and Chile.
Morningstar Pushes For More Target-Date Fund Disclosure
Morningstar, Inc. recently filed a comment letter with the Securities and Exchange Commission urging the regulator to require target-date series to provide more details on how the investments are managed and structured. The agency in June 2010 proposed rule amendments to help clarify the meaning of a date in a target date fund's name, among other amendments.
ARRIVALS
Segal Snags Ex-Mercer Partner
Jeffrey C. Boucek has joined Segal Rogerscasey's Atlanta office as senior vice president, focusing on consulting, client relationship management and new business development.
Most recently, Boucek was a partner with Mercer Investment Consulting in Atlanta.
Emerald Mines For A Sales Exec
There's a familiar face rejoining the sales team at Emerald Asset Management, Inc. Emerald's founder and CEO Joseph E. Besecker today said that John J. Smith III has re-joined subsidiary company Emerald Advisers, Inc. as vice president, responsible for the sales and distribution of the firm's proprietary institutional and retail products, including the Emerald Mutual Funds.
Prior to rejoining Emerald, Smith was director of sales for Global Capital Management and Forward Management.
Clark Capital's Founder Promotes His Son
Brendan Clark has been named president of Clark Capital Management Group, taking over for his father, Harry Clark, who founded the firm and will continue as chairman and chief executive officer.
In his new role, the younger Clark will take a more prominent position in executing the overall strategy of the firm.
He previously served as the firm's executive vice president of business development, a position he held since 2010. He continues to report to Harry Clark.
Hartford Unveils its CIO
The Hartford has promoted Brion Johnson to chief investment officer and president of Hartford Investment Management Company, reporting to the company's CEO Liam E. McGee.
Johnson succeeds Hugh Whelan, who will retire from the firm following a transition period. Johnson was Hartford Investment's chief financial officer and head of strategy and development.
DEPARTURE
A Leuthold PM Passes Away
Andrew Engel, a portfolio manager at Minneapolis-based Leuthold Weeden Capital Management, passed away on May 9, according to the firm. He was 52 years old and is survived by by his wife, Katherine Engel, their daughter and three sons.
Engel previously managed Leuthold Core Investment (LCORX) and Leuthold Asset Allocation (LAALX).
"Andy's passing is a tremendous loss to his family, friends, and colleagues. His creativity, generosity, wit, and welcoming personality will be profoundly missed," according to a shareholder memo.
Engel's death follows another momentous personnel move for the firm in the form of Steve Leuthold, who transitioned into a new reduced role last October after passing along his duties as chief investment officer to Doug Ramsey.
Statistics
$20.8B inflow to long-term funds reached in April, down from $29.3 billion a month earlier
Despite declining yields, taxable-bond funds continued to dominate inflows, taking in $16.9 billion in April. The asset class has collected $96.9 billion year to date and remains roughly on track to match 2009's record inflows of $282.5 billion.
Source: Morningstar
$1.20T total assets in US-listed Exchange Traded Funds and Exchange Traded Notes
ETF/ETN net cash inflows totaled $3.0 billion in April, bringing year-to- date 2012 inflows to $58.9 billion. At month's end, there were 1,458 U.S. listed products, an increase of 20% compared to 1,216 at the same time last year. Fixed Income leads all categories year-to-date with $21.3 billion in net inflows. April marks the 16th consecutive month of net inflows to fixed income ETFs.
Source: ETF Industry Association
