Didn't log on to Mfmarketnews.com last week? Here's some Web exclusives you missed:
* Fidelity Brokerage Services began offering basket trading, allowing customers to create baskets of individual securities within their Fidelity account.
* Managed account assets experienced net growth in the second quarter for the first time in a year, the Money Management Institute announced. Assets grew to $403.1 billion, up about 5.5% from the end of March. Mutual fund assets mirrored that growth for the same period, declining from the end of the first quarter 2000 to the end of the first quarter 2001 by 9.2%.
* No-load mutual fund provider T. Rowe Price Associates has added new features to its Web site allowing users to view and manage an aggregate of accounts from multiple institutions in one place. The product, called AccountMinder, is targeted at individual investors and is available at troweprice.com.
* The new estate tax laws could do a lot of great things for individual investors' financial plans. But come 2010, when the laws are set to expire, all those strategies may need an overhaul.
* Bankers, brokers, fund mangers and insurance agents are adopting job titles that sound surprisingly similar, reflecting the fact that financial firms have shifted focus to gathering and managing assets rather than providing a particular specialized service, said Shealyn McGuire, a consultant at Cerulli Associates.
* USAA Investments launched its first purely value-oriented fund, the company's 41st offering since it began offering funds 20 years ago. The USAA Value Fund brings value investing into a growth-weighted fund family, broadening investing options to suit all market conditions, the company said.
* In an effort to improve cash flows and net revenues, U.S. Global Investors will cap and restructure fees on a handful of the mutual funds it manages. The firm will cap the expense ratio for the All American Equity Fund at 1.5% and the Tax Free and Near-Term Tax Free funds will be capped at 0.7% through June 30 of next year.
* Diversified Investment Advisors has appointed Aeltus Investment Management and Credit Suisse Asset Management as sub-advisors for its Growth and Equity Fund, replacing Putnam Investments.
* While a majority of high-net-worth individuals believe recent changes to federal tax laws will decrease the amount of estate taxes they will pay, only a small percentage of that group is considering changes to their estate plans, according to a survey released by Phoenix Investment Partners.
