Fund performance

Money market mutual fund assets fell $38.91 billion for the week ending June 18, according to the Investment Company Institute.

The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation is currently celebrating the 10 year anniversary of its ADR Index. This index has become a global benchmark for investments as mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and other structured products are scaled based on its valuation.

According to recent analysis by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a leading global consulting firm, defined benefit pension plans tend to have higher rates of return than 401(k) plans.

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in LaRue v DeWolff to permit workers in 401(k) plans to sue administrators for high fees will inevitably lead to lower fees—and the end of the retail mutual fund industry’s dominance of the market. That’s the strong opinion of widely quoted, and frequent financial TV guest Ric Edelman.

On Thursday, PricewaterhouseCoopers and industry body CII released a report that concluded the mutual fund industry in India is facing a new threat, high operations costs.

At the GAIM International hedge fund conference Wednesday in Monaco, John Paulson, founder of hedge fund Paulson & Co., stated that the worldwide losses and write-downs of the subprime crises and liquidity shortage are far from over.

As the tax debate begins between Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain, many investors and tax advisors say capital gains taxes will increase no matter what the outcome is this coming November, The Wall Street Journal reports. Senator Obama seeks to increase the current capital gains rate 5% or more for families making over $250,000.

Morgan Stanley, releasing its 2nd quarter earnings Wednesday, reported a 60% drop in profit from $2.57 billon, or $2.45 a share, in the second quarter of 2007, to $1.01 billion, or 95 cents a share. Net revenue also fell a substantial 38% from $10.52 billion to $6.51 billion.

Boston-based Eaton Vance Management has just received a no-action letter from the SEC that will permit it to provide a new auction-rate security known as Liquidity Protected Preferred Shares, The Wall Street Journal reports.

In a similar way that the dot-com boom could serve as a snapshot for the 1990s, the last decade could easily be defined as a period where many Wall Street insiders daringly quit their jobs in exchange for presumptive hedge fund glory, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi earned a government salary of $212,100 last year, which made her the highest paid official in Congress by $47,000, according to the Associated Press.Not too shabby for civic duty.However, when one also considers the combined incomes of spouses, other investments, and overall assets, things suddenly become financially astronomical.

In pursuit of new investments, developed countries are turning their focus towards the booming economies of frontier nations, The Wall Street Journal reports. Fast-developing countries throughout Africa, Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East are averaging annual growth rates five times that of developed nations.

Peter Suhr Joins CFG As Enterprise EVP

Fidelity Investments is having one of its weakest first five months in recent history. Only 39% of Fidelity's equity funds are in the company of the top half of their peers, whereas 64% were a year ago, according to Morningstar.

When News Corp. Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch speaks, we in the financial publishing world listen, just as fund managers hang on words from Warren Buffett, Bill Gross or Peter Lynch.

Japan’s domestic asset management reports are not disclosing the way they vote on various resolutions brought up at annual shareholders meetings, according to the Nikkei Report. That disclosure could significantly improve corporate governance.

Charles Schwab has announced that the Charles Schwab Trust Company (CSTC) will offer target-date collective trust funds for retirement plans.

Below-average results are really starting to hurt investors, but new research by Rik Frehen, a Dutch finance scholar, suggests that mutual funds are not bound to under perform or be overshadowed by pension funds. The trick is to not follow the trends of buying and selling based on short-term emotions, but instead to be patient and think more about the long term.

Total assets of money market mutual funds fell by $5.51 billion to $3.515 trillion for the week ending June 11, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Financial services firms continue to battle against one another for wealth management talent even though companies are forced to pay hefty salaries that crimp profits.