Fund performance

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.

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. urged Congress to finish legislation that would create a regulator for government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and financially shore up the two mortgage financing giants.

Volatile financial markets forced hedge fund net inflows to their lowest level last quarter since the fourth quarter of 2005. Inflows fell 78.7%, to $12.5 billion, in the second quarter from a year earlier, according to data released Friday by Hedge Fund Research.

The European Union proposed a new set of rules Thursday to make Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) even more efficient by eliminating additional regulatory hurdles. Most notably, the rules- which will replace 10 directives with just one and go into effect in 2011-will allow cross-border mergers of funds, making Europe's mutual fund industry more efficient. They will also permit master-feeder structures and eliminate much of the administrative paperwork currently required to market funds to other markets in the European Union of 27 member states.

Bad news for the mutual fund industry. The volatile market has stymied the "long haul" game; an increasing number of financial advisers are moving larger portions of their clients' assets into cash positions.

Federal regulators are cracking down on the potential spread of false and misleading rumors that could potentially affect market conditions.

Citigroup posted a huge second-quarter loss Friday, battered by a big write-down in its investment banking business, but the overall results weren’t as bad as feared and the shares moved sharply higher.

After a sharp fall in the market, assets under management (AUM) within the French mutual fund industry fell 6% last month.

Prudential Financial recently honored five plan sponsors that redesigned their defined contribution retirement programs, helping members to better attain their retirement goals.

Fred Alger & Company Inc. has selected Access Data Corp.'s SalesVision sales reporting and AccessDiscovery data service applications to distribute its mutual funds.

NAVA has teamed with IBM to launch a tool establishing an automated standardized process that streamlines the sale of annuities.