Fund performance

Combined assets of the nation's mutual funds increased 4.0% for the month of July, rising $398.6 billion to reach $10.431 trillion, according to the Investment Company Institute.

A push by institutional investors toward cash helped the total amount of money market mutual funds climb by $1.62 billion to reach $3.579 trillion for the week ending Aug. 27, the Investment Company Institute said.

Billions of dollars continued to flow into municipal bond mutual funds, gaining $1.5 billion for the week ending Aug. 26, according to Lipper FMI.

Bank sales of fixed annuities reached $8.7 billion in the second quarter, according to Beacon Research in Chicago, a drop in sales from $10.9 billion in the first quarter.

The market decline has hit RBC’s wealth management business, which reported a 10% decline in net income to U.S. $288 million in the third quarter from the same period a year ago. The firm said it was largely due to market conditions leading to lower fee-based revenue.

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. has lost its AAA rating by Standard & Poor's, due to the value decline in its asset management units.

After a rough 2008 in which almost 1,500 portfolios closed, hedge funds and bank trading desks are hiring again, and the top managers are being snatched up quickly, Reuters reports.

UMB Financial Corporation has discontinued the use of Moody's Investors Service for rating both its UMBFC and UMB Bank n.a.

After a series of high-profile losses in its money market fund sector, the Association of British Insurers has created the Deposit and Treasury sector, which will provide tighter controls on permitted investments.

Confidence among affluent investors grew in the second quarter, according to the TNS Investor Confidence Index.

Northern Trust Global Investments has been named the Investment Management Firm of the Year at ACQ Finance Magazine's third-annual awards ceremony.

Hedge funds may have to change tactics, notably by cutting their leverage, and adapt to regulations that likely will restrict their investment strategies, according to a recent report about the $2 trillion alternative asset management industry published by Standard & Poor’s.

John Hancock Funds has launched the Technical Opportunities Fund, a diversified stock fund that is structured to allow the subadviser, Wellington Management, to invest up to 100% of the portfolio in cash if necessary. The fund is intended to provide a specialty strategy for retail portfolios.

Edward Jones has adopted Delta Data's FUNDViews service to manage and maintain operational rule changes within its mutual fund security master tables in its brokerage platform.

UMB Financial Corp. is installing Advantage Fee software from Fiserv Inc. to streamline billing activities in its investment management units, Fiserv said.

A former UBS banker who cooperated with the U.S. investigation of the Swiss bank was sentenced to over three years in jail for helping a billionaire real estate developer evade $7.2 million in taxes.

Fidelity Investment's timely staff cuts and careful positioning of its financial service units is paying off this year and contributing to market share gains, according to the fund giant.

Sales and national accounts professionals saw average compensation losses ranging from 10% to 30% in 2008, but with smart management, top producers will be well-positioned for a recovery in 2010, according to a new study by kasina.

Wall Street's M&A business for asset management companies will be fueled by strategic expansion purchases and corporate divestitures over the coming year, according to a new survey by Jefferies Putnam Lovell.

Investors who have a more optimistic outlook appear to be better prepared for retirement, Fidelity said. Eighty-three percent of optimists are more likely to expect a comfortable lifestyle in retirement, versus 61% of pessimists.