Fund performance

In the first-quarter’s coronavirus-driven market decline, 94% of sustainable indexes outperformed, BlackRock research shows.

As liquidity disappeared amid the coronavirus-sparked mayhem, veteran fixed-income portfolio manager Gemma Wright-Casparius saw opportunities.

One French trade group reports that the country’s managers reduced research budgets by as much as 75% between 2017 and 2019.

Withdrawals this year have equaled almost half of last year’s inflows, leaving Pimco with net outflows of $46.8 billion in the first quarter.

The pandemic has sealed the fate of small, niche offerings that have failed to gain traction.

Economic damage wrought by the coronavirus has not stopped investors from piling into the companies able to churn out profits in the stay-at-home world.

Renewed friction between Washington and Beijing threatens to undermine a trade deal signed only months ago, further jeopardizing global economic prospects.

Even some of the industry’s cheapest products “may be overpriced” in that they’re “mirroring a passive index,” an expert says.

The central bank said it “will generally not purchase shares of an ETF that are trading at a premium” of 1% above its net asset value.

As the S&P 500 bottomed in late March, mom-and-pop darlings enjoyed weeks of inflows. Since then, the trend has shifted.

There’s a lot to complain about these days, from the effectiveness of the government’s $3 trillion stimulus package to unlimited quantitative easing.

Analysis of their performance — and fees — may reveal some surprises.

With the industry facing ridicule for high fees and low returns, clients have pulled a net $33 billion from the industry in the first quarter, the most over a decade.

Dubbed Disco III, the fund will target leveraged loans, high-yield bonds and collateralized loan obligations.

Some of the industry’s largest names took a hit in last month’s market tumult, including funds run by Ray Dalio, Michael Hintze and Adam Levinson.

The holdings in these top-performers “are companies that will be replaced, from a performance standpoint, over the next decade,” an expert says.

Analysis of two funds in particular shows how important the industry has become to the oil futures markets, as they have attracted record inflows.

Total net assets in Michael Hasenstab's Templeton Global Bond Fund slumped to $22.6 billion as of March 31, public filings show.

“These funds got an assist from the Fed when they were told they would backstop the higher end of the high-yield credit industry,” an expert says.

The setback for the hedge fund, which slid as much as 14% in the first quarter, is another example of the turmoil wrought by the coronavirus.