Mutual funds

Closed-end fund assets increased $1.61B during Q2. Equity fund assets decreased by $1.5B to $96.21B, and bond fund assets increased by $3.11B to $153.39B.

The world’s largest asset manager will use software from Hewlett-Packard to speed development of applications for Aladdin, its investment management platform.

Individual investors like what they see in long-term muni bond mutual funds and so have been pouring more money into them in 2012 than they have in years.

Defined contribution plan sponsors need to do a better job communicating key information to participants, according to a survey of plan participants.

Henry Blodget, former cheerleader for the dot-come bubble, names the big fund managers that got taken to the cleaners with the Facebook IPO.

The stock fund exit stampede continued last week, but at a slower pace. Investors withdrew $3.56 billion the week ended Aug. 8, down significantly from $5.65 billion the previous week.

Individual investors like what they see in long-term muni bond mutual funds and so have been pouring more money into them in 2012 than they have in years.

Investors poured $7.2 billion into bond funds last week, while pulling $3.6 billion from funds that invest in U.S. stocks.

Victory Capital Management has selected Citi Transaction Services for a range of middle office outsourced services.

Newfleet Asset Management has named Frank Ossino a senior portfolio manager of the Virtus Senior Floating Rate Fund.

U.S. bond fund investors have been more reliant on government bonds and corporates than their European counterparts but that will change if rates stay low.

JonesTrading Institutional JonesTrading to Acquire Conifer SecuritiesServices said it signed a letter of intent to acquire Conifer Securities from the Conifer Group.

As sales of ETFs boom, the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy has released an investor bulletin on the investment vehicle.

Equity fund investors appear to be exiting from mutual funds and investing in ETFs instead. Fixed income funds are a different story.

On August 30, the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration participant fee disclosure rule, dubbed ERISA 404(a)(5), will go into effect.

First Trust Advisors has rolled out the First Trust NASDAQ Technology Dividend Index Fund and the Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund.

On August 10, 2012, U.S. debt yields put you asleep. But you better be on your toes, with the adventure involved in emerging market bonds.

The Value Line Asset Allocation Fund has been added to the Schwab Mutual Fund OneSource Select List. It's one of seven asset allocation funds among the 23 third-party funds selected for the "additional fund categories" section of the OneSource Select List.

Bond fund sales grew at a record pace during the first half of 2012, according to Strategic Insight. Equity funds recorded net redemptions in aggregate.

Money-market fund companies obtained permission to support 155 of their funds during the financial turmoil of 2007 and 2008, and six more funds got the same go- ahead since the crisis, according to a list provided to Congress by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.