Fund performance

Pax World Management Corporation has settled charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission that two of its funds, Pax World Growth and Pax World High Yield, purchased securities that violated their fund policies.

The energy and commodities sectors have dropped significantly below their 200-day moving averages and are now in sell territory, says Tom Lydon, editor of ETF Trends and president of Global Trends Investment.

India’s booming fund management industry has started to decline as the Indian stock market has plunged nearly a third so far this year, Reuters reports.

Faith-based mutual funds have experienced significant growth in a short amount of time, increasing from $500 million in 1997, to approximately $17.5 billion today, according to McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

A year ago, Chinese investors poured their money into mutual funds, believing they would receive huge returns on their investments, Business Times Singapore reports. Since the market bubble began shrinking last October, however, mutual fund investments have declined. Chinese mutual funds have declined 30% in the first half of this year, down 668.8 billion yuan in the first quarter and 413.9 billion yuan in the second quarter.

What’s attractive to the crowd with more $500,000 in investable assets? Investment research from their advisers, apparently.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examination released a new ComplianceAlert recognizing common flaws and weaknesses among mutual fund companies.

New income and precious metals funds are now available for Canadian investors within Investors Group (IG). They are the Putnam U.S. High Yield Income Fund and IG Mackenzie Global Precious Metal Class.

Investors looking to hedge the continuing slide of the U.S. dollar may want to consider investing in one of Rydex’s eight CurrencyShares exchange-traded funds.

BOSTON - Workers love pension plans, but providing 20 to 30 years of benefits to a huge retired workforce can cripple most companies' profits.

PLYMOUTH, Mass. - The bewildered looks on the faces of young patients in the children's ward of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute were wrenching enough. For Frank Strauss, who had himself become a parent in 1995 to his first child, Nicole, only three months before, the helplessness etched on their parents' faces was far worse.

Investors alleging wrongdoing by their stockbrokers can choose to go to court or face an arbitration panel of three people, including one person from the brokerage industry and two from the public.

Stock mutual funds saw an inflow of $2.39 billion during the week ending July 23, compared to an outflow of $3.02 billion the previous week, according to TrimTabs Investment Research firm.

Second-quarter client assets at Fidelity Investments' brokerage unit grew 2% from a year earlier, to $1.92 trillion.

According to the data in the Northern Trust Universe, the majority of U.S. institutional investors posted negative returns for the quarter ending June 30 - the third negative quarter in a row for participating plans in the study.

eSecLending, an administrator and provider of customized securities lending programs, recently announced its creation of Securities Financial Global Advisors (SFGA), a registered investment advisor (RIA), to further carry securities lending for mutual fund cash collateral in the U.S.

To show workers the long-term impact of cashing out their 401(k) savings when they change jobs or retire, a firm that provides rollover services for plan sponsors now offers a free “Cash-Out Calculator.”

The Department of Labor on Tuesday proposed requiring 401(k) plan fiduciaries to supply investors with standard account summaries that will clearly state fees, expenses and any administrative costs such as legal, accounting and recordkeeping charges—in actual dollars; performance and comparable benchmark returns; investment options; and how to obtain more detailed information, including education and/or advice.

After AARP pared down its more than 33 funds at one point during its 21-year relationship with Scudder Investments to a mere five in 2005, sub-advised by State Street Global Advisors, the new chief of its funds unit now wants to expand those offerings, with a new focus on retirement income.

IndexIQ has launched a mutual fund-of-fund that will mimic hedging strategies, invest in exchange-traded funds and leverage up to 100% of its assets.