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Vanguard is limiting new purchases and not accepting new accounts for the Primecap Core Fund and two related funds, Primecap and Capital Opportunity.

The Jones v. Harris Associates fund fee case pending before the Supreme Court could very well be found in favor of investors, and if so, that could have tremendous ramifications for the 53 million American households that own mutual funds, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The wealthy are still giving despite the economic downturn, according to a study by Barclay’s wealth and luxury market consultant Ledbury Research. The study queried 300 Americans and 200 British with an average of $5.4 million in investable assets and found that the wealthy were much more willing to give up luxury goods, staff, eating out, holidays and travel before they would stop giving to charity. Only their children’s education ranked higher than charitable giving when they were asked what they would give up if the downturn proves more protracted.

Jackson National Life reported a record $3.4 billion in retail sales and deposits in the second quarter. In the first half of the year, sales and deposits totaled $6.1 billion, up 3% from the first half of 2008.

With mortgage-backed securities regaining value, PIMCO’s benchmark $169 billion Total Return Fund has been trimming its exposure to this sector, Dow Jones reports. The fund’s holdings of mortgage-backed securities fell to 47% in July, only slightly more than its 42% exposure in April 2007, and down considerably from a peak of 86% in February.

Money market mutual fund assets fell $12.83 billion in the week ended Aug. 12, with the bulk of the redemptions coming from retail investors, the Investment Company Institute said.

The $4.5 billion U.S. Natural Gas Fund, an exchange-traded fund, may have an investment mandate for the U.S., but regulators’ crackdown on speculation is forcing the fund to look overseas, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Although actively managing Treasuries has always proven difficult, PIMCO is making the case for actively managed TIPS funds, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Fidelity Investments has partnered with an afterschool program, Building Educated Leaders for Life, to bring the “Stock Market 101” curriculum to middle-school students in the Boston area this summer. It will educate sixth- and seventh-graders about the stock market and the economy to help them learn about the value of investing and, perhaps, encourage some to enter the asset management industry.

The nascent mutual fund industry in India is poised for tremendous growth averaging 29% a year over the next five years, Celent predicts. Driving the growth will be low retail penetration, high household savings rate and increasing interest among foreign asset managers to serve the market.

PMC, the investment management arm of Envestnet, announced the launch of a new tax overlay service Thursday that will allow advisers to minimize tax liabilities on their clients’ portfolios.

As employers regain confidence, they plan to lift freezes on salaries, benefits and 401(k) matches, according to a series of reports.

Despite the turmoil in the financial services industry, some mutual funds that specialize in the sector have not only outperformed their benchmark but have delivered double-digit returns, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Investors dropped almost $44 billion into open-end mutual funds in July, bringing the year-to-date total for inflows to $171 billion, according to data released by Morningstar. Taxable bond funds were the overwhelming favorite, taking 59%, or $26 billion of July’s proceeds.

Two-thirds of women between the ages of 40 and 79 have encountered a life crisis, be it a long-term unemployment, divorce, death of a spouse or a major illness or disability of someone in their household, AARP found. And with this, they encounter financial and emotional hardship.

Since the market meltdown at the end of 2007, 51% of investors think about their finances every day, whereas before, only 27% did, Charles Schwab found in a survey.

The average 401(k) account balance rose 13.5% in the second quarter to $53,900, which was perhaps behind the trend for more investors to increase their deferral savings rate than to decrease it, Fidelity Investments reports.

In a survey of 757 investors between the ages of 35 and 64 with investable assets of at least $100,000, Phoenix Marketing International found that more than half say their financial situation is worse than a year ago and two-thirds don’t expect it to get any better for at least one year.

Sun Life Financial announced Tuesday it is planning its first U.S. marketing and branding campaign, to better enforce its name among American consumers and financial advisers.

The combination of investors’ love affair with exchange-traded funds and their renewed interest in fixed income in the wake of the market downturn is creating a field day for bond exchange-traded funds, The Wall Street Journal reports.