Mutual funds

Bankers at the National Municipal Bond Summit said they believe new bond issuance will increase, especially in the high-yield senior living and charter school sectors.

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.

Asset management firms need to pay heed to the innovations happening in "fintech" right now, as peers and upstart digital firms provide clients with new ways to invest and manage money, and potentially new business models for the financial industry.

The world’s biggest money managers are mapping out proposals intended to grease trading in debt markets that regulators warn are at risk of seizing up in the event of a sudden rush by investors to pull cash.

Regulators are now starting to show interest in how ties between leveraged loans and other links in the systemic chain -- including investment funds that buy up loans -- could magnify credit losses.

Pimco is seeing unprecedented client defections from its developing-nation mutual funds as poorly timed investments and below-average returns catch up with the firm. Customers have pulled about $10 billion since the start of 2013, according to data from the fund manager.

The SPDR DoubleLine Total Return Tactical exchange-traded fund launches today. It will be managed by Jeffrey Gundlach, who also runs the DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund, a top-performing mutual fund. It is the 26th ETF to be launched this year, but it is possibly the most important as a test of whether active management can ever thrive inside the ETF industry.

Web-savvy consumers now want greater engagement and information about brands before making a purchasing decision, and they're getting that information from influencers they follow on social media platforms. But the asset management industry in many ways is still working out how to connect with clients via social media.

Bill Gross’s $1.46 billion Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund trailed its benchmark in the fourth quarter of last year primarily because it had plowed about 5% of net assets into debt issued by U.S., Russian and Brazilian energy companies.

As senior executive vice president of the American Stock Exchange from 1986 to 1993, Riley oversaw derivatives trading and “was the driving force in the development” of the ETFs known as SPDRs.

Mutual funds that buy loans saw $4 billion yanked last month, bringing total outflows for the 12 months ended Jan. 31 $28.7 billion, according to Morningstar data. That’s the biggest withdrawal for any U.S. debt asset class in the period.

Municipal bond sales in the U.S. are set to decrease in the next month while the amount of redemptions and maturing debt falls.

The International Organization of Securities Commissions said that it will publish a second batch of draft plans on Feb. 20 for identifying funds or particular investing practices that could present systemic risks.

This past week, the industry saw Pimco suffer more redemptions despite the climbing performance of its Total Return Fund, a BlackRock bond ETF receiving a record $2 billion deposit, Virtus Investment Partners announced an agreement to acquire a majority interest in ETF Issuer Solutions, and a report from Cerulli Associates noting that socially responsible investing has become a frequent request of asset managers from institutional clients.

Fidelity Investments, the second-largest U.S. mutual fund company, reported a 29% increase in operating income in 2014, as growth in its retirement business and cost cutting helped offset withdrawals from its actively managed offerings.

Salient Partners, a $21.5 billion investment firm, plans to buy Forward Management to expand its liquid alternatives business, a fast-growing product that offers hedge fund-like strategies to individual investors.

Seeking to bolster its team after co-founder Bill Gross left last year, Pimco announced it hired Joachim Fels as global economic adviser.

Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund attracted an estimated $85.6 million in net new money in January, the lowest amount since Pacific Investment Management’s former investment chief Bill Gross took over as manager in October.

Jerry Murphey recalls trying to apply tactical risk management solutions after the 2001 market shocks. "It was clear that financial markets would continue to move faster than investor expectations and financial advisors would need tactical risk management."