Special Program Root Tag

Mutual fund assets reached $13 trillion in 2007, reaping $1.8 billion over the year, according to Strategic Insight.

In a recent critique of mutual fund advertisements, Morningstar said many funds have improved their ads by emphasizing research, expenses and consistency over short-term returns, but there is still additional room for improvement.Previous ads focused too much on short-term performance by listing big gains for various funds, but many customers expected the returns would be repeated. Even with a disclaimer that past performance does not guarantee future results, some investors were disappointed and turned elsewhere.

Investors in the credit-default swap market are showing a growing risk of financial distress for some big banks and insurers, according to the Wall Street Journal Europe.The cost of protection on debt by these companies is soaring even as credit market concerns recede.

Stock mutual funds posted an outflow of $12.25 billion for the week ending Jan. 9, compared to an outflow of $10.31 billion for the previous week, according to TrimTabs Investment Research.Domestic funds saw an outflow of $8.9 billion, compared to $9.58 the previous week, and international stock funds had an outflow of $3.35 billion, compared to $728 million for the previous week.

Investors are seeking the safe haven of money market funds as the markets continue to exhibit volatility.Total money market mutual fund assets rose by $48.69 billion to $3.165 trillion for the week, the Investment Company Institute said Thursday.

Target-date funds recently got government approval as the default option in 401(k) plans. On the other hand, a recent study by Compass Investors, finds fault with the structure of these funds. A recent study from the Compass Institute, a think tank affiliated with Compass Investors, criticizes the structure of target-date funds. It advocates shifting asset allocations based on market and other trends, instead of on a fixed schedule.

Some financial pros say there is a possibility of a panic in the markets as the ongoing selling blitz hammers many sectors of the market.

This year will be a pivotal and exciting year of opportunity for the retirement income industry as more Americans start planning for the future, say industry experts.

The New York Stock Exchange may buy its rival, the American Stock Exchange, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The deal could be priced at as much as $350 million.

Tony Blair, the former prime minister of the United Kingdom , has taken a part-time job in a senior advisory capacity with the investment bank JP Morgan, according to BBC News.

Citigroup and Merrill Lynch are in discussions to seek additional cash infusions from foreign governments to help cover losses from overexposure to mortgage-related investments, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is stepping into the municipal bond insurance sector and using its name to charge higher premiums than its rivals, according to Financial Times.

Vanguard has bumped American Funds from its six-year run as the biggest-selling fund company in the U.S. , reclaiming the leading role that Vanguard last held in 2001, the Financial Times writes.

Columnist Hugh Anderson, writing in Canada ’s National Post pointed out there is not enough information to put a value on the securities underlying the $35 billion of frozen asset-backed commercial paper clogging up the Canadian money market.

ING Investment Management Americas, the U.S. asset management arm of ING Group NV, bought a minority stake in Lincoln Vale, an alternative asset investment firm based in London and Boston .

The newly-formed FINRA was asked to adjudicate two arbitration complaints against brokerage firm Morgan Keegan and fund manager James C. Kelsoe for two high net worth clients. The actions were filed by the Stoltmann Law Offices.

Assets under management in the mutual fund industry totaled $13 trillion in December, up $1.8 trillion from the same period a year before, according to New York-based Strategic Insight.

U.S. individual investors will continue to chase the high returns in foreign-stock mutual funds in 2008, at the expense of domestic funds, according to the Los Angeles Times.

According to a recent survey of investment managers by the Russell Investment Group in Tacoma , Wash. , three out of four money managers thought of themselves as “bullish” on large-cap domestic growth stocks.

The rapid decline of the dollar may turn out to be so 2006 and 2007, according to some experts. Investors and fund strategists who diversified away from the greenback and into foreign investments were well-rewarded during this period.