By Editorial Staff
NEWS SCAN
Fidelity, iShares Extend ETF Alliance
Two brand name firms are extending their exchange-traded fund distribution venture. Fidelity Investments and BlackRock has teamed again up to bring iShares ETFs to Fidelity's army of investors.
Fidelity is increasing the number of iShares ETFs that can be traded commission-free on Fidelity.com from 30 to 65. The list includes all 10 iShares Core ETFs as well as a variety of equity, fixed-income and commodity funds.
OppFunds Closes 5-Star Rated Fund
OppenheimerFunds is closing its Oppenheimer Developing Markets Fund (ODMAX) to new investors on April 12, Money Management Executive has learned. The 5-Star rated fund managed $33.5 billion as of March 11, according to Morningstar.
The fund is managed by Justin Leverenz, Director of Emerging Markets Equities at OppenheimerFunds.
Legg Mason Wraps Up Hedge Fund Buy
Legg Mason's officially got itself a hedge fund.
Legg Mason-affiliated alternatives manager Permal has completed the acquisition of Fauchier Partners, a European funds of hedge funds manager, from BNP Paribas Investment Partners.
Altegris Takes to YouTube
Altegris is taking to YouTube in an attempt to demystify the common myths about alternatives.
"Although they take a light-hearted approach, these "edutainment" videos are powerful tools that advisors can share with their clients and prospects on different aspects of alternative investments," according to Dick Pfister, Global Head of Sales and Consulting.
The animated videos tackles such subjects as myths about alternative investments and the structure of managed futures funds.
Nuveen's Large Cap Select Fund Drops R3 Shares
Nuveen Investments has pulled the plug on the shares of its Nuveen Large Cap Select Fund (FLRYX) sold to 401(k) plans.
Effective March 5, Class R3 shares of the Large Cap Select Fund were no longer offered for sale, according to a regulatory filing.
Touchstone Closes Growth Fund
Touchstone Investments is closing its Touchstone Sands Capital Institutional Growth Fund to new investors. The fund managed some $2.6 billion as of March 8.
According to a regulatory filing, limiting the fund's size will allow it to "maintain adequate liquidity in positions held within the portfolio and meaningfully participate in targeted investments." The fund is closed to new investments as of April 8.
SEC OKs ETC's Active ETF Exemption
Exchange Traded Concepts, an exchange-traded fund platform for emerging managers, has received the green light from the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch actively managed echange-traded funds.
ETC, which touts itself as a "white label" firm launching funds for other managers, has several clients that it is currently talking to in terms of launching active ETFs, according to CEO Garrett Stevens.
The funds ETC develops could eventually include swaps and other exotic products, he says, if the SEC grants exemptive relief (A question-and-answer session begins on page 12).
PRODUCTS
Salient Officially Launches Futures Mutual Fund
Houston-based Salient Partners, a $17.4 billion asset management firm, has officially lifted the veil on its Salient Pure Trend Fund (SPTAX, SPTCX, SPTIX). Money Management Executive previously reported on the fund's launch.
The fund will bet on futures contracts on both the long and short side. Its management fee is 95 basis points.
Global X Aims for Dividend Yields
Global X Funds is banking on opportunities in high dividend-paying equities.
The New York-based exchange-traded fund provider has launched Global X SuperDividend U.S. ETF (DIV) on NYSE Arca. The new ETF provides exposure to 50 of the highest dividend-yielding equity securities in the U.S.
RESEARCH
Investors Add $52B to Mutual Funds
Morningstar last week reported that investors added $51.9 billion to long-term open-end mutual funds in February building on inflows of $87.2 billion in January.
Taxable-bond funds, which experienced inflows of $18.6 billion, topped all asset classes for the month, followed by international-stock funds, which took in $16.5 billion. Also, diversified emerging-markets funds collected $6.2 billion last month.
SI: Best Start Ever for Mutual Funds, Target Date Funds
The first two months of 2013 marked net flows of $140 billion into stock and bond funds, the best start for the mutual fund industry on record, according to Strategic Insight.
Long-term stock and bond funds attracted $50 billion in February, following January record net intake of $90 billion. Lifecycle mutual funds (target date and target risk) assets grew to $744 billion in February.
ARRIVALS
Munder Hires Former Co-Head of CalPERS Credit Research
Munder Capital Management has hired Jim Kourkoulakos, a former portfolio manager and co-head of credit research at California Public Employees' Retirement Service (CalPERS), as a senior portfolio manager for fixed income.
Kourkoulakos reports to Ed Goard, Munder's chief investment officer of fixed income. At CalPERS, the largest pension fund system in the U.S. with more than $200 billion in assets, Kourkoulakos co-managed an $8 billion investment grade bond portfolio and managed a $1 billion high-yield bond portfolio.
Putnam Snags Mercer Vet
Kristin Pelling has joined Putnam Investments to fill a new role focused on large market defined contribution recordkeeping sales. As Director of Defined Contribution Consultant Relations, Pelling will have responsibility for overseeing support of national and regional consulting firms. Pelling will report to Stephen Jenks, Head of Defined Contribution Product & Marketing, and be based in Boston.
Kasina Unveils Product Manager
Expect improvements in Kasina's productivity benchmarking and advisor insights services with the hire of a new product manager.
Bob Fenster will lead Kasina's efforts to grow Kasina's benchmarking offerings, which help clients track the performance of wholesalers, national accounts teams and digital initiatives relative to competitors.
Prior to Kasina, Fenster acted as managing director of New York Life Investment Management, directing strategy and solutions within the investments technology department.
STATISTICS
68% of the $3.0 trillion that went into long-term mutual funds in 2012 were in no-load classes.
Another 13% went to A-shares.
SOURCE: Investment Company Institute
$13.8B in new open-end and exchange-traded fund flows went to Vanguard in February.
PIMCO experienced $9.4 billion in fresh funds.
SOURCE: Morningstar
