International funds

Baron Funds has launched the Baron International Growth Fund, which will invest in small- and mid-cap companies for the long term, primarily in developed nations, but it will hold some stock in emerging countries, as well.

Fidelity Investments Canada has unveiled nine Fidelity Private Investment Pools aimed at the high-net-worth market. The offerings cover a wide array of asset classes and are said to be institutional-grade.

After a surprisingly bad year, international funds—which sank an average of 45% in 2008—could be ripe for big gains later this year, some managers say.

T. Rowe Price has launched the Strategic Income Fund, a new offering that will invest in 12 asset classes to achieve high income and some asset growth, with 80% or more of its assets invested in income-producing securities.

Standard Chartered’s Hong Kong division has agreed to reimburse $320,000 to 1,000 investors who were allegedly disadvantaged by the firm’s permitting Stone Castle, a Millennium Partners subsidiary, to market time 24 mutual funds managed by ACM Funds and Scudder Global Opportunities Funds.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has received an emergency court order to halt a suspected Ponzi scheme targeted to Haitian-American investors.

The personal fortunes of the 1,000 wealthiest people in Britain have tumbled by more than 50% in 2008, according to the 2009 Sunday Times Rich List.

Global research firm Morningstar has acquired U.K.-based Tenfore Systems, a privately owned provider of market data feeds and technology, for $20.9 million.

Japanese mutual funds are headed for record declines this year as assets across the board have suffered losses from a combination of a global recession, plummeting interest rates and a surging yen.

American Century Investments has been hammered by the market downturn but is positioning itself for brisk growth at home and abroad, according to its top executive.

Fidelity International and its U.K. partner Dalton Strategic Partnership will be saying goodbye to David Urch and Jonathan Cobb, two high-profile equity portfolio managers they hired to work in the Edinburgh office just before the credit crunch, Dow Jones reports.

The Tokyo joint venture between Fortress Investment Group and DKR Capital is laying off an unspecified number of people, Dow Jones reports. However, the office is not shutting down entirely.

Citadel Investment Group is closing its Tokyo office and laying off 12 people there, as well as another 25 in Hong Kong, Reuters reports. Going forward, all of its Asian operations will be run out of the Hong Kong office, which will be left with a staff of between 25 and 30 people.

Everywhere you look these days, people are talking about green cars, green energy, greenhouse gases and even green mutual funds. This new demand for all things green is enough to make some money managers green with envy.

Alex Widmer, CEO of Swiss bank Julius Baer, died unexpectedly Dec. 3 at the age of 52.

Slowly but steadily, the Securities and Exchange Commission continues on the long journey toward adopting international tax and accounting standards, with the recent release of its long-anticipated roadmap.

The financial turmoil in the markets is far from over, and mutual fund firms can expect assets to continue to decline further, investors to remain skittish, and regulators to be reactive well into 2009, experts say.

With sales plummeting in the U.K., Fidelity International is preparing to lay off 300 people, or 14% of its staff of 2,100, The Evening Standard reports.

The European Union, which has been in favor of new rules and capital requirements for hedge funds and private equity, will propose such regulations next month to the European Commission, Reuters reports.

A record $156.5 billion was withdrawn from mutual funds in Europe, according to the Lipper FMI report. All asset classes suffered net withdrawals.