Fund performance

The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering eliminating the stable, $1 net asset value (NAV) requirement that money market mutual funds have long held, by either making the funds have a floating $1 NAV or a $10 NAV.

All things considered, earning $46 million in 2008 was far less than the $81 million Mario Gabelli of Gamco took home in 2007 and the $81 million he pocketed in 2002, DealBook reports, citing a proxy filing.

Investors are looking for more flexibility than being locked into investment style boxes that fall in and out of favor. Merely beating a benchmark but still being in the red by double-digits doesn’t do investors any good.

Putnam has hired yet another executive from Fidelity, Walter C. Donovan, who will serve as chief investment officer. A 25-year veteran of financial services, he was president of Fidelity’s equity division, overseeing portfolio management, investment research and trading.

Several signs indicate the current bear market rally is nearing its end, and the next imminent sell-off of equities could finally break investors' spirit, according to Barron's columnist Michael Kahn.

The economy isn’t in a recession, it’s in a depression, but that doesn’t mean investors should shy away from the markets. That is the sage advice of David Dreman, chairman of Dreman Value Management, writing in this week’s issue of Forbes.

In a survey of the websites of financial services firms—fund companies not among them—public relations firm Weber Shandwick found that two-thirds, 66%, were not addressing the financial crisis. Only 15% actively sought to alleviate customers’ fears.

Five states are examining the underlying investment offerings in OppenheimerFunds’ 529 plan after two of the funds lost substantial amounts over the past year: the Oppenheimer Champion Income Fund is down 79%, and the Oppenheimer Core Bond Fund is down 41%.

Trading activity is reaching record levels at discount brokerages, as increasing numbers of mutual fund investors give up the ghost on long-term investing, The Wall Street Journal reports. About 20% of online investors, or 7.5 million people, have increased their trading levels, according to TowerGroup.

One shift in distribution strategy the financial crisis has caused, which fund sales directors should take note of, is that banks are looking far more attractive to a variety of advisers and more are hiring top talent.

The top wealth management executive at Beneficial Bank in Philadelphia said his unit aims to take advantage of its rivals' "distractions."

As mutual fund assets continue to decline and investors migrate to low-cost products, fund companies are struggling to make management fees stretch even farther.

While most mutual fund companies struggled in 2008, John Hancock Funds finished the year in solid standing, buoyed by a strong first half and careful strategic planning. President and CEO Keith Hartstein recently spoke with Money Management Executive's John Morgan about the key areas that drove Hancock's record $8.5 billion in sales, some regulations he would like to see changed and his outlook for the rest of 2009 and beyond.

American Century Investment Management and Waddell & Reed Investment Management Company won "Best Fund Group Overall" honors in the large and small fund company categories, respectively, at the U.S. Lipper Fund Awards 2009 ceremony held Thursday evening in New York.

Consultants to 401(k)s and other defined contribution plans are carefully analyzing, and in some cases replacing, the plans’ money market, stable value, inflation protection and target-date offerings, PIMCO found in a survey.

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department extended its $3 trillion temporary guarantee program for money market mutual funds through Sept. 19 to provide continued reassurance for investors.

A last-minute Bush administration regulation that would permit advice in 401(k) plans was called into question Tuesday by a number of consumer advocates and other experts who testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

PALM DESERT, Calif. - The United States is determined to show the world it is leading global economic recovery efforts, even if that means creating what some in the industry view as risky new risk regulators.

PALM DESERT, Calif. - Having exhausted their multimillion-dollar, class-action claims against big tobacco companies, the nation's top trial lawyers are now turning their attention to the mutual fund industry.

Because of the havoc that 2008 wreaked on so many investors’ portfolios, 46% of the 468 diversified U.S. equity funds that have had the same manager for the past decade, have negative returns for the 10 years ended Feb. 28, The Wall Street Journal reports. By comparison, the S&P 500 fell 3.4% on average over the past 10 years.