NEWS SCAN
Gallagher: $1 NAV Will Get New Review
Securities and Exchange Commission member Daniel Gallagher said Thursday the stable net asset value of shares in money funds is again under review.
"We're going to see,'' he told Money Management Executive, whether there is now a majority of commissioners ready to vote in favor of a floating net asset value.
Gallagher, who was one of three commissioners prepared last month to vote against SEC chairman Mary Schapiro's proposals for reform, is reported to be prepared to vote for a floating net asset value (See Page 1).
Schapiro dropped her plan to propose a floating share price, capital buffers and redemption restrictions in the face of expected "no" votes from Republicans Gallagher and Troy Paredes along with swing vote Luis Aguilar.
Expected to be on Schapiro's side was Democrat Elisse Walter.
Equity Funds Take $7.5B Hit
Investors have stepped up their flight from mutual funds that invest in stocks.
The outflow hit $7.5 billion in the week ending September 26. That's up more than 50% from the $5.1 billion taken out by investors the prior week, according to the Investment Company Institute.
ING Value Choice Funds Blow Off Tradewinds
Three ING funds are bidding their subadvisor, Tradewinds Global Investors, adieu.
According to a filing, the Board of Trustees of the ING Value Choice (PAVAX), ING Global Value Choice (NAWGX) and ING International Value Choice (IVCAX) funds approved the subadvisory change to ING Investment Management Co.
Bury Street Uncovers U.K. Market For Federated
Federated Investors is looking to take its fixed income prowess across the pond with the help of Bury Street Capital, a London-based investment marketing and distribution firm whose clients include leading global pension funds and wealth managers throughout Europe.
Under the agreement, Bury Street will market and distribute three fixed-income strategies with new share classes that are expected to launch in the fourth quarter, including: Federated Emerging Markets Global Debt Fund, Federated U.S. Total Return Bond Fund and Federated High Income Advantage Fund.
Gross Slashes EM Fund's Fees
The PIMCO Emerging Markets Corporate Bond Fund has cut its advisory fee by 10 basis points to 75 bps, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Florida Mutual Fund Exec Preps For...Jail
Mutual fund executive John Mattera, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., pleaded guilty this week to three criminal counts, including conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud, in connection to an $11 million scam involving the sale of non-existent private shares in companies such as Facebook and Groupon.
Vanguard Replaces Benchmark for 22 ETFs
The firm said it plans to transition six international stock index funds to FTSE benchmarks and 16 U.S. stock and balanced index funds to new benchmarks developed by the University of Chicago's Center for Research in Security Prices.
Teton Loses Gabelli Brand
Teton Advisors has renamed its group of funds that it has advised since it was spun off from GAMCO Investors-Mario Gabelli's fund group-in March 2009. The change erases the Gabelli connection and rebrands the funds the TETON Westwood Funds.
The name change-first outlined in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Sept. 25-became effective Oct. 1. The fund group was previously called the GAMCO Westwood Funds.
PRODUCTS
PIMCO's Mortgage Fund Set to Launch
PIMCO is currently crossing the T's and dotting the I's on its latest offering, the PIMCO Mortgage Opportunities Fund.
According to a filing, the fund, which bets on mortgage-related assets including residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, will be managed by Daniel Hyman and Alfred Murata. The fund charges management fees of 60 basis points for Institutional Class, 70 bps for Class P, 60 bps for Admin Class and 75 bps for Class D.
BlackRock Subadvises Taylor's Maiden Alt Fund
Taylor Alternative Mutual Funds has launched the Taylor Xplor Managed Futures Strategy Fund (TMFIX), the first mutual fund of the Taylor ALTS family of funds.
The fund will bet on a variety of asset classes, including commodities, currencies, equity indices and global interest rates, and is intended to complement traditional equity and fixed income investments, according to the firm.
Hatteras Offers Futures Fund
Hatteras Funds has launched the Hatteras Managed Futures Strategies Fund (HMFIX, HMFAX), which bets on an existing $56 million strategy of the Hatteras Alpha Hedged Strategies Fund (ALPHX, APHAX, APHCX, ALPIX), a multi-strategy, multi-manager alternative mutual fund.
Dominion Capital Management, 2100 Xenon Group, Northfield Trading, and Revolution Capital Management serve as the fund's managers.
UMB Comes Up 'ACE's for Alts Funds
UMB Fund Services has launched a transfer agency service dubbed Alternative Investment Communication Engine for it growing number of registered hedge fund clients and potential clients.
UMBFS worked closely with SunGard to develop ACE, which incorporates SunGard's Infinity Process Platform from Asset Arena Transfer Agency, as well as Asset Arena Transfer Agency's enterprise reporting, document repository, and data repository.
GaveKal Renames Fund
Denver-based GaveKal Capital renamed its fund company the GaveKal Knowledge Leaders Fund. The fund company was previously known as the GaveKal Platform Company Fund.
Although the name will be new, the fund's objective, strategy and management remain the same, according to the firm. The fund will continue to be managed by portfolio manager Steven Vannelli.
First Pacific Hires New Distributor
The Board of Directors of the $5.3 billion FPA New Income fund has approved a new distributor for the fund.
Effective last week, UMB Distribution Services has taken over distribution services for FPA Fund Distributors, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
ARRIVALS
Pyxis Adds National Sales Chief
Pyxis Capital has hired Keith Watts as Head of National Sales.
Watts joins Pyxis from Destra Capital Investments, where he was the National Sales Manager for RIA and Institutional distribution throughout the US. Prior to Destra, he served in sales leadership and business development roles at Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Janus Capital Group.
STATISTICS
146 new ETFs/ETPs have been launched by 27 providers on three exchanges, while 59 ETFs/ETPs have delisted YTD through end of September 2012.
SOURCE: ETFGI
$34B flowed into U.S. ETFs in September 2012. YTD through end of Q3 2012, U.S. ETFs saw net inflows of $124 billion.
SOURCE: ETFGI
