Fund performance

Blackstone Group LP, the largest manager of alternative assets such as private equity and real estate, doubled first-quarter earnings as assets swelled past $300 billion for the first time.

Bond ETFs have attracted $35.7 billion this year worldwide, on track to exceed the record $84.9 billion placed last year.

A recent Morningstar evaluation showed portfolio managers investing more than $1 million in their own funds had a significantly higher success rate than those who invested less, or even nothing at all.

Holders of the three biggest U.S. exchange-traded products that follow oil have withdrawn almost $300 million so far in April, leaving the funds poised for their first monthly outflow since September.

Firms still have many managers deep within their benches that have found strategies to deliver significant returns for investors.

Pimco’s Total Return Fund, the world’s largest bond fund with $117.4 billion in assets, has cut way back on its holdings of U.S. securities.

Never heard of James Miles and David Green, the fund’s managers? That’s no surprise. They’re part of a group whose visibility is diminishing fast: famous stock pickers.

“Asset managers are still giving a ‘free liquidity option’ to investors,” one analyst wrote. “Investors will have to eventually pay for this either upfront, or in terms of higher volatility.”

The news that Mohamed El-Erian has his portfolio largely in cash has many investors wondering if they should follow suit. But what may make sense for a mega- millionaire’s portfolio isn’t necessarily a good move for people with much more modest portfolios.

Redemptions at Pimco's biggest mutual fund slowed for the third straight month as performance rebounded this year.

ETFs are not only for the retail investor looking to make investments on the cheap; product providers and researchers report institutions are increasingly driving ETF inflows by adding them to portfolios.

The most dangerous time for the Treasury market this month will be when the U.S. issues employment data on Friday, if February and March are any guide.

With the inclusion of data analytics, wholesaler compensation can be adjusted to put more attention on asset retention, says Matthew Fronczke, a director of research at kasina.

This week's roundup of notable industry news includes how fear over Fed interest rate hikes spurred investors to withdraw billions from bond ETFs this month.

Fischer said regulators must be attuned to the growth and evolution of the asset management industry after funds “that track the returns of indexes of relatively illiquid assets have mushroomed in size.”

Howard Marks said the impact on liquidity of ETFs, liquid alternatives and new rules designed to stop banks from trading with their own money has yet to be tested.

While raising its forecasts for growth and inflation in Europe, Pimco expects long-dated yields to be further cut by the European Central Bank’s bond-buying program.

Hedge funds and mutual funds that once shunned venture-style deals are flocking to late-stage technology startups, paying 15 to 18 times projected sales for the year ahead in recent private-funding rounds

The ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury fund has lost $6.1 billion of investor money since its inception in 2008, more than any other ETF has lost during its existence.

This week's notable news from the asset management industry includes a recent SEC roundtable meeting where some participants discussed the potential "unintended consequences" of universal proxy ballots, global ETP flows in February reached a record $50 billion, the fastest start to any year on record, and leadership at Vanguard were tasked with new roles within the firm.