Investment products

Tax-exempt money market funds posted their first decline since mid-December as outflows of $4.35 billion trimmed total net assets to $329.91 billion for the week ended Jan. 17, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

The sophisticated investor in retail municipal bonds has ­remained calm the past few months even as mutual funds have dumped state and local ­government debt by the truckload.

The Securities and Exchange Commission approved two sets of rules for asset-backed securities Thursday, including one that would apply to certain municipal securities in early 2015.

Stock markets around the world are on the rise and investor sentiment is, not surprisingly, riding along.

At $1.917 trillion, the industry is just shy of its peak level, reached in the second quarter of 2008.

Redemptions since Dec. 2 total $15.76 billion.

Asset managers can use the online resource when preparing a fund launch or moving a fund to a new service provider.

International fiscal stimuli and expectations of rising inflation tilt the balance in equities’ favor.

The issuance of U.S. Treasuries is set to fall by 16% this year, and tax receipts should jump. Demand for bonds will also increase, both among pensions and individuals and overseas buyers, and quality small cap stocks should rise above the pack. Keefe, Bruyette and Woods suggests shorting stocks that will benefit from rising short-term interest rates.

Client trading activity increased 17% from the third quarter due to stronger market conditions and an upbeat economic outlook.

A new study from Aon Hewitt claims that pension funds for companies located in the U.S., the U.K., Canada and Europe clocked out of 2010 with a 87% funded status, marking a 1% increase from previous numbers.

Mutual funds have emerged as the dominant source of selling pressure for state and local government paper in the new year as investors keep pulling out their money, forcing fund complexes to sell bonds into an already jittery market.

Matt Fink, former president of the Investment Company Institute, covers this and other frequently asked questions about the industry in the new edition of his book, “The Rise of Mutual Funds: An Insider’s View.”

Assets total $2.796 trillion for the week ended Jan. 12.

Prudential Financial, Pimco, Nuveen Investments eye robust markets

According to a Vanguard study, financial planners still have a big role to play to help investors understand allocations, risks and the big picture.

After two weeks in which funds flowing into and out of mutual funds that invest long-term in United States stocks held their own, investors pulled $4.2 billion out of domestic equity funds, the Investment Company Institute reported Thursday.

Most municipal bond exchange-traded funds in the fourth quarter performed noticeably worse than the indexes they were designed to track. Or, depending on your perspective, they performed noticeably better.

On Thursday, E-Trade Financial announced that E-Trade Capital Management LLC will expand its advisory offerings to include unified managed accounts.

The sub-advisors who will construct the fund’s regional sub-portfolios hail from offices including those in Brazil, India, Japan and South Korea.