Investments

Clear, consistent messages about what makes a fund stand apart and serve a particular investment purpose well is what, in turn, makes a fund manager stand apart in the eyes of present or potential customers.

"Inventions have long since reached their limit, and I see no hope for further developments," Julius Sextus Frontinus, Roman engineer, 10 A.D.

Snap your fingers.

The Board of Directors of the $5.3 billion FPA New Income fund has approved a new distributor for the fund.

Delaware Investments has added Sean Pronger, a former professional hockey player, who recently joined Delaware Investments as regional director for its third-party retail distribution team supporting Los Angeles.

Well, that was quick.

The Laudus Mondrian Global Equity Inv (LGEQX) fund is liquidating at the end of November.

Three months after hiring Mark Howard-Johnson as the Global Head of Real Estate Securities Management, BlackRock today unveiled the first of many real estate funds to be managed by Howard-Johnson's new unit.

Municipal bond mutual funds saw heightened demand from investors this past week. Funds that report their flows weekly recorded solid inflows of $592 million for the week ended Sept. 26, Lipper FMI numbers show.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner asked the Financial Stability Oversight Council to take up structural reforms to the $2.6 trillion money market mutual fund industry, citing the Securities and Exchange Commission's failure to act.

TIAA-CREF has added a new socially responsible fund dubbed the Social Choice Bond Fund (TSBIX, TSBBX, TSBRX, TSBPX), an actively managed, core fixed-income mutual fund.

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner put pressure on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to tighten oversight of the $2.6 trillion money- market fund industry, saying the funds may pose a risk to the stability of the financial system.

The Fidelity Spartan 500 Index fund's “seasoned team” and “competitive price” has made it a “top option” in the eyes of Morningstar.

SEC member Daniel Gallagher, who helped derail efforts to tighten rules for money market mutual funds, said he would likely support a measure forcing the industry to abandon its marquee $1 share price.

OppenheimerFunds, which introduced its first Class I mutual fund shares in December 2011, has expanded its I Shares product lineup.

Three months after hiring Mark Howard-Johnson as the Global Head of Real Estate Securities Management, BlackRock today unveiled the first of many real estate funds to be managed by Howard-Johnson’s new unit.

Altegris has expanded its sales team of with the addition of Valentina Glaviano as Director of Distribution Strategy, a newly created position.

The increase in both market volatility and interest from the Baby Boomers in generating retirement income should be a slam-dunk for variable annuities.

Mutual fund shareholders are paying their managers less today in fees than they were 20 years ago or even last year.

Exchange-traded funds added $22.36 billion in August, driving total ETF assets to $1.215 trillion.