Fund performance

Credit markets are getting a second wind, thanks to a Federal Reserve that’s suddenly not as confident the economy is strong enough to weather a steady rise in interest rates.

Scott Mather, who replaced Bill Gross as one of the portfolio managers of the Pimco Total Return Fund, has been buying government-backed bonds, helping boost its total mortgage allocation to 30% on Jan. 31 from 20% in September.

ETFs continue to be dominated by three big players: BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard Group, and State Street, which collectively control 82% of the roughly $2 trillion invested in ETFs.

Advisors have gotten better at evaluating target date funds, says James Lauder, CEO of Global Index Advisors. But it remains difficult, he adds, because a uniform benchmark approach toward target date funds isn't available.

According to a Fundstrat Global Advisors survey of 3,265 funds, more than half posted gains that exceeded benchmark indexes in 2015 through March 6, for their best start to a year since 2012.

As the Federal Reserve prepares to raise interest rates, exchange-traded funds designed to protect bond portfolios from the fallout are likely to see big inflows.

This week's highlights includes how competition is forcing ETF providers to cut fees on products; research on how corporate bond ETFs can help institutional investors manage investment flows; and Chinese demand for portfolio managers.

WisdomTree Investments has gained 33% this year, driven by the success of two exchange-traded funds that let investors buy European and Japanese stocks while avoiding the decline in the currencies.

For the third consecutive year in 2014, JPMorgan attracted more net new money to its actively managed equity funds than any of its U.S. mutual fund competitors. In a year in which larger rivals such as Fidelity and American Funds suffered redemptions from active stock funds, it gained $18.3 billion.

MainStay Marketfield was supplanted as the largest alternative mutual fund after assets dropped to $7.3 billion as of Feb. 28 from more than $21 billion a year earlier, according to data from Chicago-based Morningstar Inc. The $8.1 billion Gateway Fund now holds the distinction.

The client redemptions that plagued Bill Gross at his old job have followed him to his new one as well. Gross’s Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund suffered its first month of net withdrawals since he joined, with clients pulling $18.5 million from the fund in February, Morningstar estimated.

This week's items of note includes a Fed warning on potential misperceptions of liquidity with ETFs, a report on clients defecting at an unprecedented rate from Pimco's developing-nation mutual funds, a study showing underlying investment fees have declined at small retirement plans, and exchange operator BATS naming a new CEO.

For many bond managers, equities seemed like a great idea after the 2008 financial crisis. The Federal Reserve had pushed interest rates to near-zero, potentially leaving little room for bonds to appreciate and fueling a rally in stock markets that’s about to enter its seventh year.

Investors are pouring a record amount of money into ETFs that focus on municipal debt even as the consensus on Wall Street calls for higher interest rates in coming months.

Ballentine's clients invest in the U.S. equities market via ETFs. When the market was near its bottom, Ballentine had them sell those funds and buy into "like kind" ETFs, which they then rode back up.

Redemptions at Pimco's biggest mutual fund slowed to the lowest since Bill Gross left the firm, as performance rebounded.

Up to 10% of some corporate-debt funds’ holdings now consist of ETFs, a proportion that’s been rising for the past two years, research shows. Also, ETFs are also being used as an easy way to invest in bonds after receiving large inflows.

Bill Gross says he’ll keep trading for the next two to four years to prove he can still beat the market.

The strong launch of an ETF with Jeffrey Gundlach's name behind it demonstrates there is room for more growth in actively managed ETFs, industry observers say.

BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, cut fees on five bond exchange-traded funds, joining rivals in lowering costs to attract more investors.