Fund performance

Infrastructure funds may have been building interest ever since President Barack Obama announced his commitment to rebuilding America's infrastructure, but the managers of the First American Global Infrastructure fund have been laying the groundwork for years.

Defined contribution plans have been hammered by dropping equity markets, and this chain of losses has caused a ripple effect throughout the fund management industry.

The Investment Company Institute is pushing for improvements to municipal disclosure, which it generally considers limited, non-standardized and stale.

RiverSource Investments, American Century Investments and OppenheimerFunds have received "F" grades from a Morningstar analyst for failing to explain recent changes to shareholders and adding to the paranoia of already shaken investors.

Fidelity on Tuesday began the second phase of job layoffs which started last year. In this phase, 1,700 people will lose their jobs.

With the average target-date fund down 17% in 2008, investors might think twice about what has been one of the best-selling fund categories of the past few years, MarketWatch reports.

With few corporate bonds being traded these days, fixed income mutual fund managers are having a very hard time running their funds, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Financial planners are spending a lot of time these days trying to allay their clients’ fears, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Anyone who works with a financial adviser most likely has money in the stock market and, therefore, has experienced steep losses in the past year.

With the seven-day simple yield on money market funds now a mere 50 basis points, investors are beginning to look for other places to park their money. In the latest week for which figures are available, investors pulled $7.82 billion out of money market funds, iMoneyNet reported.

Mutual fund prospectus provider NewRiver is suing Morningstar for using Internet espionage to steal information from its patent-protected system.

Charles Schwab Corp. said it plans to cut 500 to 600 jobs this quarter in its effort to contain costs.

With other safe investments paying so little these days, it's hard to ignore the glowing rates that some insurance companies are guaranteeing on long-term fixed deferred annuities.

Remember when markets were rising, profits were strong and fund distribution was all about having a large wholesaling staff, generous compensation programs to incent wholesalers and support staff to track sales and calculate payouts?

The influx of money into Treasuries, combined with record-low interest rates, has driven the yields of Treasury money market funds so low that rather than risk breaking the buck, many funds are now turning away new money, MarketWatch reports.

Calls for greater oversight of the investment advisory profession continued last week, with key congressional leaders pushing the industry to come up with changes designed to prevent future fraud schemes similar to that of the Madoff case.

Strong performance and a conservative approach has enabled American Century Investments to outperform some of its competitors, despite market conditions that cost it 31.4% of its assets under management last year.

Here's a word to the wise for any executives of publicly traded companies who may be about to be visited by Portfolio Manager Roger Vogel: Don't roll out the red carpet and offer him a slick, well-rehearsed tour of a spotless and smoothly humming facility.

NEW YORK - Despite the terrible news about most stocks and mutual funds, investors should heed Sophocles' warning and "don't kill the messenger."

Fixed income mutual fund managers and other investors are beginning to move out of Treasuries into higher-risk debt instruments, including junk bonds, and that is good news, BusinessWeek reports. While it may not immediately spur the economy, it is at least helping to change the highly risk-averse mindset of retail and institutional investors alike.

Legg Mason lost a record $1.49 million in the third quarter, down from profits of $155 million in the third quarter of 2007. Revenues also plummeted, by 40%.Total assets fell by 17% to $698 billion, and its flagship Legg Mason Value Trust fund fell 52% in 2008.Legg will close about one-fifth of its funds this year.