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ProFund Advisors LLC on Wednesday launched the Access Flex Bear High-Yield Fund, a mutual fund designed to increase in value when the high-yield bond market falls. The fund follows on the heels of the company's recently introduced Access Flex High-Yield Fund, which is designed to increase in value when the high-yield market moves up.

Deutsche Bank's UK institutional asset management unit continued to suffer significant outflows in the first quarter, while the bank's overall assets shot up by 24 billion euros.

The Securities and Exchange Commission brought and settled enforcement charges last week against three former executives of Alliance Capital Management who were accused of allowing market timing in the firm's mutual funds.

Assets in the hedge fund industry swelled to $1 trillion in the first quarter, although demand for these high-return, loosely regulated investment vehicles remained at 2004 levels, according to a report released by Hedge Fund Research.

Federated Investors on Thursday reported a $51 million charge it took in connection with settlement with regulators over allegations of illegal trading.

A reminder from Money Management Executive to fund and operations executives to submit entries for SourceMedia's 2005 Fund Operations Awards by Monday, May 2. The original deadline of April 25 was extended one week to this coming Monday.

MetLife Inc. said on Wednesday that its stable value funds ended last year with more than $20 billion in assets under management, a $1.4 billion increase over year-end 2003.

Parnassus Investments is launching three new no-load funds, including the Parnassus Workplace Fund. The Workplace Fund will invest on the idea that a company whose employers enjoy good work conditions will perform better in a long run.

Stock and bond funds experienced net inflows of $28.4 billion in March, according to the Financial Research Corporation. International funds saw a net intake of $17.5 billion, while domestic funds followed closely with $16.4 billion in net inflows.

Fidelity Investment's Magellan, the nation's largest stock fund for more than a decade, has dropped to fifth place after investors withdrew an estimated $11.6 billion in the past 12 months, USA Today reports.

Starting May 2, Fidelity Investments will implement a handful of new appointments.

Total assets in the nation's exchange-traded funds in March reached $228.7 billion, up 2.2% from $223.86 billion in February, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Fidelity Investments is closing its $2.1 billion International Small Cap Fund on May 5 to most new investors after assets increased almost threefold since the beginning of 2004, Bloomberg reports.

Nuveen Investments plans to launch a new closed-end exchange-traded fund next month that will invest in call and put options in order to enhance performance and hedge against downside risk. It will be called the Nuveen Equity Premium Advantage Fund..

Privatization of Social Security could be very risky business, considering that personal accounts would put money in the hands of many Americans who are woefully ignorant of the basics of the economic system and common investment vehicles, such as mutual funds, the New York Times reports.

We at Money Management Executive would like to hear back from our readers on how they define market timing within their respective firms. Despite being at the heart of the mutual fund trading scandal and the impetus behind a wave of reform, there remains no industrywide definition as to what constitutes market timing, which remains completely within the law if properly disclosed to shareholders.

Money manager Waddell & Reed reported a decline in first-quarter profits, owing to a rise in compensation, underwriting and distribution costs.Net income for the first quarter dropped to $22.8 million, or 28 cents a share, compared with $27.9 million, or 34 cents a share, a year earlier.

Amvescap, parent company of AIM Investments and former Invesco mutual funds, said on Tuesday that net outflows declined in the first quarter despite a 20% drop in pre-tax profits.Amvescap agreed in September to pay $450 million to settle charges that it allowed improper trading practices in some of its funds. Net outflows for the quarter stood at $2.5 billion, compared with $7.6 billion in the last quarter of 2004.

Investment manager T. Rowe Price reported a 22% increase in first-quarter profit, helped by a rise in investment advisory revenues.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is urging mutual funds to utilize its newly launched volunteer program to report key financial information via Microsoft's eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), a code that enables documents to be filed on EDGAR in a uniform manner.