Mutual funds

Guinness Atkinson Asset Management last week disclosed in a regulatory filing its first proposed exchange-traded fund: a dividend offering.

North Peak Asset Management has added a new fund to its family. The Duxbury, MA shop launched the Inflation Hedges Strategy fund (INHIX, INHRX) which will invest in asset classes that are sensitive to increases in inflation.

Vanguard is shaking up its government relations office.

New rules to reduce risk in money-market mutual funds will be proposed in the next two months by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which won’t be slowed by a leadership change, a commissioner said last week.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is getting social.

As a financial advisor to numerous types of clients, including recent retirees, I often think deeply about the issues my clients face in this market environment.

Pimco's 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond ETF reported $204.1 million of inflows on April 8, the same day the SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond ETF recorded its second-biggest daily redemption since its inception more than five years ago, equal to about $378 million worth of shares, Bloomberg reports.

The job market in asset management may not be back to pre-crisis levels, but hiring will likely pick up after second quarter earnings reports, says recruiter George Wilbanks, president of Wilbanks Partners.

New York-based Krane Funds Advisors is prepping a series of passive exchange-traded funds to add to the growing list of ETF products in the market

Richard Weil, chief executive officer at Janus Capital Group had his compensation reduced 19% to $4.98 million in 2012 as investors withdrew $12.1 billion from the firm.

Memphis, TN-based SouthernSun Asset Management is closing its SouthernSun Small Cap Fund (SSSFX) to new investors on May 17, according to a regulatory filing.

Mutual fund investors rolled some $2.0 billion into equity mutual funds for the week ended April 10, according to Jeff Tjornehoj, Head of Americas Research at Lipper, who said that: “Lest anyone get too excited about the inflows, they were the lightest weekly net sales of this year.”

Money market assets fell $8.9 billion to $2.6 trillion for the week ended April 10, according to Investment Company Institute data.

Northern Trust is touting the rapid growth of its’ defined contribution assets.

Kris Jenner, the former top stock picker at T. Rowe Price Group, has raised more than $100 million for a hedge fund to invest in health-care and biotechnology stocks, Bloomberg reports, citing a person with knowledge of his plans.

Inflows of $57.1 million entered the tax-exempt money market industry in the week ended April 8 and total net assets inched up to $273.12 billion, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Great rotation or not, more money hemorrhaged from municipal bond mutual funds as outflows occurred for the sixth straight week, at $631 million.

Average expense ratios continued their precipitous decline during 2012 much to the delight of mutual fund investors, according to an annual Investment Company Institute report on fund expenses and fees.

Investors poured $16.9 billion into exchange-traded funds in March, bringing the first-quarter total to $53.1 billion, according to data from Morningstar.

ING is embarking on a rebranding voyage. Following an initial public offering, the company will rebrand to Voya Financial.