Mutual funds

Natixis Global Asset Management (NGAM) has launched international hedged equity fund from Gateway Investment Advisers, LLC (Gateway), designed to play a conservative, risk-managed role in a portfolio allocation to international equity.

There were 7,693 mutual funds in February 2012, so how do women-managed funds find a way to stand out in this $12 trillion industry?

There were more than 8,500 mutual funds at the end of 2010, according to the 2011 Investment Company Fact Book. They range from long only equity and bond funds to alternative long/short mutual funds.

Milwaukee, Wisc.-based CliftonLarsonAllen Wealth Advisors has teamed up with Academy Asset Management, a Philadelphia, Pa.-based investment advisor to launch Innovator Management LLC, purveyor of the Innovator Matrix income Fund.

Independent mutual fund service provider Ultimus Fund Solutions, LLC has hired Kirk Littleton as director of business development to help the company double its business within the next seven years.

Principal Funds has added three new regional directors to the firm’s investment only team: Marcel Dawson, Gary Nakamura and Pamela Suing. Each will focus on growth within the registered investment advisor distribution channel.

Investors’ confidence rose during the first quarter of 2012, according to the newly-released John Hancock Investor Sentiment Index.

BlackRock Investments Canada Inc. has appointed Mary Anne Wiley managing director and head of its combined exchange-traded fund business, replacing Som Seif, founder and chief executive of the recently-acquired Claymore Investments, Inc.

Stewart Capital Advisors, LLC, the investment advisor for Stewart Capital Mutual Funds, said that it has made the Stewart Capital Mid Cap Fund available as a no-load mutual fund effective April 1.

RiverPark Advisors LLC, a New York-based investment advisory company, has launched the RiverPark Long/Short Opportunity Fund, an open-end mutual fund that was converted from an existing hedge fund launched in October 2009.

Invesco’s shareholders of the Invesco High Income Municipal Fund and the Invesco U.S. Mid Cap Value Fund today approved a plan to merge those funds into the Invesco Van Kampen High Yield Municipal Fund and Invesco Van Kampen American Value Fund.

Aristotle Capital Management, LLC, a registered investment advisor focused primarily on managing separate accounts for institutions and high net-worth investors, has launched its first mutual fund—employing many of the go-anywhere strategies it employs for these high-net clients.

RidgeWorth Investments is closing its Small Cap Value Equity Fund, subadvised by Ceredex Value Advisors LLC to new investors effective April 20.

Oaks, Pa.-based SEI, a provider of investment processing, fund processing, and investment management business outsourcing services, has appointed Stephen Beinhacker as Global Head of Equities for SEI's Investment Management Unit.

Stewart Capital Advisors, LLC, the investment advisor for Stewart Capital Mutual Funds, said that it has made the Stewart Capital Mid Cap Fund available as a no-load mutual fund effective April 1.

Investment advisor Matthew Tuttle spends a lot of time moving the money of newly-acquired clients out of mutual funds and into exchanged-traded instruments.

The Hartford is relocating the headquarters of its mutual funds business to Radnor, Pa., in a complex where Wellington also has an office. It also plans to hire as many as 50 new sales people to this office.

Expanding its relationship with Wellington Management, The Hartford is relocating the headquarters of its mutual funds business to Radnor, Pennsylvania, in a complex where Wellington also has an office. It also plans to hire as many as 50 new sales people to this office, adding to the already existing 100 person force nationwide, to support sales of its funds in the advisor-sold and defined contribution investment only (DCIO) channels. .

As it turns out, losing to the S&P 500 last year wasn't quite as shameful as we thought.

Tradewinds Global Investors, a subsidiary of Nuveen Investments, is throwing in the towel on its Global All-Cap Plus Fund.