NEWS SCAN
SEC Mandates Consolidated Audit Trail Creation
On a three to two vote, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged the nation's exchanges and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority with developing and maintaining a consolidated and auditable trail of every order, cancellation, modification and executed trade on 13 national stock exchanges, 10 options markets and through more than 200 broker-dealers.
PRODUCTS
Davidson Launches SMID Cap Fund
Great Falls, M.T.-based Davidson Investment Advisors has launched its second mutual fund, dubbed the Davidson Small/Mid Equity Fund, to complement its maiden offering, the Davidson Multi-Cap Equity Fund.
According to Edward Crotty, chief investment officer and portfolio manager at Davidson Investment Advisors, the fund is managed by a team of seven investment professionals and focuses on "an intense, research-driven approach of small and medium size companies that are largely undiscovered and/or misunderstood in the marketplace."
Hatteras Explores Insurance Channel, More Funds
Hatteras Funds has launched a new variable trust fund, the Hatteras Alpha Hedged Strategies Variable Fund, which made its debut on the flat-fee variable annuity platform of Jefferson National last month and will bet on "multiple" hedge fund managers. But the firm is just getting started distributing its wares in the insurance channel.
Robert Worthington, president of Hatteras, told Money Management Executive that the firm is currently talking with a number of medium and large insurance companies and "we're in pretty serious discussions with one." He anticipates inking another deal with an insurance concern in the fourth quarter.
On the product development front, Worthington said the firm is planning to launch a managed futures mutual fund in the fourth quarter that will bet on five managers as well as one to two "select, niche products" next year.
Schwab Rolls Out Diversified Bond Fund
Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. has launched the Laudus Mondrian Global Fixed Income Fund (LMGDX) to bet on developed, U.S., and emerging market bond markets.
The fund's sub-adviser is London-based Mondrian Investment Partners Limited. It has a net operating expense of 85 basis points, which is waived through January 10, 2013.
J.P. Morgan Preps Commodities Fund
J.P. Morgan Asset Management has filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch the JP Morgan Commodities Strategy Fund.
The fund will bet on commodity-linked derivative instruments, including commodity-linked notes, swap agreements, commodity options, futures and options on futures. The portfolio management team consists of Robert Michele, Peter E. Kocubinski and Christopher M. Tufts.
RESEARCH
ETFs Gain $12B in June
US ETF assets totaled $1.16 trillion as of June 30 - up 11.3% year-to-date, according to State Street Global Advisors' ETF Snapshot.
The snapshot showed that investors last month added $11.9 billion more to ETFs than they withdrew, as large cap and fixed income ETFs attracted $4.9 billion and $4.7 billion of inflows respectively. Year-to-date, fixed income ETFs have attracted more than $33 billion.
Advisors More Likely To Use Alts If....
Advisors are looking to adopt alternative investments in their portfolios but are leaning on guided strategies from fund firms to do so, according to a new survey by Jackson National Life Insurance Company.
Specifically, the survey revealed that nine out of 10 advisers expect to increase their use of alternative asset classes over the next year. Among those advisers who anticipate an increase, more than half said they would increase their use of alternatives by 15% or more in the next 12 months. Nearly a third will boost their use of alternatives by 20% or more. Of the small percentage of advisers who have not used alternative asset classes to date, more than 90% say they are now considering using them.
Fixed Income ETFs Set for Record Growth
The global market for fixed income exchange-traded funds will likely grow to more than $2 trillion in assets over the next decade, compared with $302 billion today, according to a new report by iShares.
Over the same period, the U.S. fixed income ETF category will likely grow to $1.4 trillion in assets, compared with $222 billion today.
ARRIVALS
Calvert Snags Ex-ING Exec
Socially responsible investment shop Calvert Investments has named Lynne Ford to the newly created position of Head of Distribution. Ford will lead a team that includes retail sales, institutional sales, marketing, and public relations and will be a member of Calvert's management committee.
Previously, Ford served as chief executive officer of Individual Retirement at ING US. The executive search firm, Wilbanks Partners, LLC, based in Stamford, CT, aided Calvert in this search.
Callan Beefs Up Northeast Presence
San Francisco, Calif.-based consulting shop Callan Associates has hired Yosangel G. Haddad as vice president, based in Callan's new location in Summit, New Jersey. Haddad will report to Millie Viqueira, senior vice president and head of the firm's New Jersey Fund Sponsor Consulting office.
In this newly created position, Haddad will be responsible for working with a variety of large public and corporate defined benefit and defined contribution fund sponsors.
Ex-Van Kampen Chief Advises Buyout Deals
Financial services-focused private equity shop Lightyear Capital LLC has appointed Jerry W. Miller, former president and chief executive officer of Van Kampen Investments, as a senior advisor on behalf of its affiliated funds.
Miller will draw upon his more than two decades of leadership experience in asset management and wealth management in working with Lightyear to identify deals in the financial services space.
DFA Taps Peng Chen as Asia Chief
Austin, Texas-based Dimensional Fund Advisors has appointed Peng Chen as chief executive officer, Asia (ex-Japan). Chen (see Q&A on page 1) joined Dimensional on July 1 from Morningstar, where he served as president of its global investment management division.
In addition, Chen will be a member of Dimensional's Investment Policy Committee. The firm also plans to leverage his extensive experience in the global defined contribution marketplace as it continues to expand its business in that space. According to Faith Yando, a spokesperson for DFA, Chen's position is new within the firm and he'll be based in both Singapore and Hong Kong, where the firm will be opening offices in each location by the end of 2012.
DEPARTURE
Champ Takes Up SEC's Fight
The Securities and Exchange Commission has named Norm Champ as director of the agency's Division of Investment Management, replacing outgoing Eileen Rominger, who is retiring.
Champ (see page 1) previously served as Deputy Director of the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations. He assumed his new duties July 9.
STATISTICS
22,366 was the number of mutual fund share classes in the market in 2011, up 1.8% from the year before.
This was the highest number of share classes since 2008's 22,240 share classes.
Source: ICI Investment Company Fact Book
$115B is the amount that exchanged-traded fund assets increased during the first six months of 2012 from year-end 2011.
This is an increase of 11%.
Source: ETF Industry Association
