Funds That Allow Market Timing Have Heyday

While regulators frown upon market timing, some fund companies permit it, and they are seeing their assets swell, The New York Times reports. ProFunds has taken in $200 million in net new assets since New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer began his probe, Michael Sapir, ProFunds chairman, told the paper. Rydex and Potomac Funds are two other fund companies that don’t penalize investors for moving in and out of their funds, and that could also benefit from the ongoing investigation.

While Rydex allows market timing, it does not allow late trading, said Albert Hallac, chairman of Weston Capital, which invests in hedge funds. Spitzer has criticized market timers for driving up the administration costs of funds at the expense of other shareholders. Meanwhile, Sapir told Reuters his funds are arbitrage-proof.

Mutual fund managers who themselves use market timing as an investment strategy said they regretted Spitzer’s attack on market timing, Reuters reports. Sapir called market timing an investment method "as valid as any other."

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