Fund performance

Morningstar estimates that the top 25 mutual fund companies took in $12.4 billion in net inflows in the first quarter, with the research firm’s Director of Personal Finance Christine Benz telling Reuters, “I would imagine that the worst is over for a lot of these firms. It’s hard to imagine a scenario that’s worse than the fourth quarter was.”

Waddell & Reed reported first quarter profits of $15.5 million, down 45.2% from $28.3 million in the first quarter of 2008.

Thirty-six percent of financial advisers are less confident than they were a year about in their ability to manage reitrees’ assets—with most blaming the complexity of retirement income portfolios needing to both generate growth while guaranteeing income, GDC Research and Practical Perspectives found through a survey.

According to a survey by the IBM Institute for Business Value, 90% of financial markets executives and government officials believe the returns of the past are over, primarily due to radical restructuring of the financial markets.

Recognizing the need for asset management executives to receive timely insights from financial intermediaries on changing investor tastes, kasina and Horsesmouth have launched Advisor Vision. Through surveys conducted among Horsesmouth's 70,000 members that kasina designs and analyzes, the service provides insight into advisers' behaviors, preferences for working with asset managers and opinions on specific firms and investment choices.

The House Education & Labor Committee last week proposed new rules for 401(k) disclosure that will give investors greater transparency into the fees they are paying, but some 401(k) advocates say the new rules are too aggressive and unnecessary.

The 19th Century London financier Nathan Rothschild is credited with having said, "The time to buy is when blood is running in the streets."

NEW YORK - After suffering deep losses in their retirement savings accounts, most Americans appear to be in a state of shock, unsure where to move next.

While Denver-based Janus Capital Group said its net profit for the first quarter fell 93%, its outflows have stabilized and executives remain optimistic that the company is in a good position for a future economic recovery.

Federated Investors reported first quarter profits of $35.1 million, or 34 cents per diluted share, down 37% from $35.1 million, or 54 cents per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2008.

State Street Corp. reported first quarter earnings of $2.002 billion, or $1.02 per common share, down 22.3% from $2.577 billion, or $1.35 per share, in the first quarter of 2008. Total assets under management fell 29% to $1.395 trillion, down from $1.955 trillion, and total assets under custody fell 24% to $11.337 trillion, from $14.9 trillion.

T. Rowe Price’s first-quarter earnings fell 68% to $48.2 million, or 19 cents a share, from $151.5 million, or 55 cents a share, in the first quarter of 2008. Revenue fell 31% to $384.5 million, down from $559.1 million.

Although the number of Americans pessimistic about the economy in April was 49%, according to a Harris Interactive poll, it was slightly improved from the 54% who were pessimistic in April 2008.

The Morningstar 1000 Hedge Fund Index fell 0.1% in the first quarter, and the Morningstar MSCI Asset-Weighted Hedge Fund Composite Index rose 0.5%.

Seventy-five percent of employees at companies that have had layoffs, furloughs, suspended 401(k) matches or that have taken other cost-cutting measures, have faith their employer is taking the right action to strengthen the company, according to a Zoomerang survey for iDashboards.

BlackRock’s first quarter earnings fell 24% to $84 million, or 62 cents per diluted common share. Operating income was $271 million and operating margin was 27.5%.

Actively managed funds continued to drastically trail three Standard & Poor’s indexes over the past five years ended Dec. 31, 2008.

Suspending 401(k) matches for just one year can save most companies millions of dollars a year, but doing so can severely negatively impact participants' savings rates and long-term retirement outlook, and should be avoided, according to Hewitt Associates.

The best way to get investors the lowest 401(k) fees possible is to automatically enroll as many of them as possible into big plans with high contribution rates, according to a study released last week on the economics of 401(k) and defined contribution retirement plans by Deloitte and the Investment Company Institute.

Whether driven by the demands of potential or existing investors, regulators or a new strategic direction, hedge fund and private equity firms are moving beyond their historically entrepreneurial outlooks to enhance their operational risk management, financial controls (SOX and SAS 70) and internal audit.