Fund performance

Money market mutual fund assets rose by $14.14 billion to $3.575 trillion for the week ending Aug. 13, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Despite the credit crisis — or perhaps because of it — there has never been a better time to invest in fixed-income products, particularly triple-A commercial mortgage-backed securities, according to portfolio managers at Putnam Investments.

Analyzing the savings patterns of 11.5 million participants in the 16,723 defined contribution plans it serves, Fidelity found that Americans are holding steady when it comes to balancing their concerns over the economy and the declining market, and saving for their retirement.

Federated, Eaton Vance

Having gone to great, and expensive, lengths to bail investors out of auction-rate securities, which have been severely hit by the credit crunch, some closed-end funds regret this decision in light of UBS’, Citigroup’s and Merrill Lynch’s plan to buy back $40 billion in auction-rate preferreds, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Fidelity Investments is hoping to make it far easier for independent registered investment advisers to open new accounts, by equipping them with the ability to capture e-signatures on all necessary documents from new clients. DocuSign is providing the supporting software, which is encrypted so that only the intended parties can view documents and “e-sign” them by clicking on signature lines.

Curian Capital LLC of Denver, the separately managed account arm of Jackson National Life Insurance Co., is developing a managed account for investors who need their portfolio to produce regular income as they enter retirement.

With consumers nervous about their financial health, banks such as Wells Fargo and Citizens Bank see this need as an opportunity. Wells Fargo is making licensed brokers available to customers to discuss risk, assets and investment strategies. The bank's goal is to reach customers who aren't high-net-worth, but still have a mix of products across a number of institutions: deposits, loans, retirement plans, mutual funds and education financing.

As the stock market continues to stumble along, high-net-worth investors are becoming increasingly pessimistic about the economy and dissatisfied with the performance of their financial services providers.

Given the turbulence in financial markets, now may seem an inopportune time for financial advisers to make drastic changes to the way they interact with investors.

If you can't say anything nice about someone, don't say anything at all.

A Florida-based law team is working to help investors of the failed Charles Schwab YieldPlus Fund recuperate some of their losses.

Total money market mutual fund assets rose $32.09 billion to $3.56 trillion for the week ending Aug. 6, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. of Columbus, Ohio, said it has agreed to buy all of the outstanding publicly held class A common stock of Nationwide Financial Services Inc.

The Blackstone Group reported a $165.6 million profit for the second quarter, thanks to huge gains in its hedge fund businesses, according to the International Herald Tribune. The private equity firm’s hedge funds reported $225.2 million in revenue, offsetting other gains and large losses, including a pretax loss of $185.5 million.

In spite of their strong records, two Vanguard funds that have been suffering steep redemptions will now be reopened to investors—and industry observers say this is an indication of investors’ skittishness in this weak economy.

Whereas the S&P 500 declined 0.99%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.25% and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.42% in July, the Hennesee Hedge Fund Index fell 1.95%.

MassMutual’s retirement services division is offering a customized 401(k) tool for plan sponsors and retirement plan advisers, based on asset allocation tools from Morningstar.

Hedge funds are enjoying tremendous success in Hong Kong and Singapore, with the number of managers and assets under management going through the roof, according to data from Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission and Singapore’s Monetary Authority.

Morningstar has added global real estate and currencies as two new categories it will track for mutual funds, and alternative investments as a new broad asset classes.