Investments

On July 13, 2012, MFS Investment Management has filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a pair of mutual funds in September.

In a stunning reversal of recent patterns, tax-exempt money market funds amassed $4.64 billion of new cash as total net assets soared to $274.7 billion in the week ended July 9.

The market continued to show its confidence in municipal bond mutual funds with strong inflows following a holiday week of relative inactivity.

As Congress and the White House head toward another battle over extending the Bush-era tax cuts, a trade association representing utility companies is warning that investors could be in for a major hit if the rates for qualified dividends revert to their pre-2003 levels, even if the only rates that move are those for the wealthiest Americans.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 31.26 points Thursday to close at 12,573.27 while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended off 6.69 points and 21.79 points, respectively.

On July 12, 2012, DoubleLine Capital LP’s $28 billion Total Return Bond Fund has experienced the most inflows among U.S. mutual funds this year through June, Bloomberg reports, citing data from Morningstar.

The Board of Trustees of the Newgate Global Resources Fund has decided to liquidate the fund, effective as of July 31, according to a Securities and Exchange filing.

Ernst & Young LLP has appointed Julie Canty and Carlos A. Schmidt as partners in the firm’s Asset Management Tax practice.

JPMorgan, under Americas equity research head Noelle Grainger, scored the largest number of highly ranked analysts, making it the No. 1 firm in U.S. equities research. Bank of America was No. 2, followed by Morgan Stanley.

Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. has launched the Laudus Mondrian Global Fixed Income Fund (LMGDX) to bet on developed, U.S., and emerging market bond markets.

Domestic ETF assets totaled $1.16 trillion as of June 30 – up 11.3% year-to-date, according to State Street Global Advisors’ ETF Snapshot.

Janus Capital Group Inc. has made two institutional appointments in an effort to grow its institutional client and consultant relationships in the U.S.

Janus Capital Group Inc. has made two institutional appointments in an effort to grow its institutional client and consultant relationships in the U.S.

Fund managers and financial advisors are looking to the cloud to reduce costs, enhance performance, and improve accessibility.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 48.59 points Wednesday to close at 12,604.52 while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 shed 14.35 points and 0.02 points, respectively.

For the week ended July 3, investors steered an estimated $1.68 billion into long-term mutual funds, about half the amount they invested a week earlier, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Hatteras Funds this week launched a new variable trust fund, the Hatteras Alpha Hedged Strategies Variable Fund, which made its debut on the flat-fee variable annuity platform of Jefferson National last month and will bet on “multiple” hedge fund managers.

US ETF assets totaled $1.16 trillion as of June 30 – up 11.3% year-to-date, according to State Street Global Advisors’ ETF Snapshot.

Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. has launched the Laudus Mondrian Global Fixed Income Fund (LMGDX) to bet on developed, U.S., and emerging market bond markets.

Financial advisors plan to increase their use of alternative investments this year, according to Jackson National Life Insurance Co. One big challenge: they need to understand the asset class better.