Mutual funds

Putnam Investments has named Scott C. Sipple as head of investment product management and development, responsible for overseeing the firm's equity, fixed income and global asset allocation product management and development teams.

On the heels of the launch of PIMCO's and Bill Gross' first active exchange-traded fund, BlackRock has thrown its hat into the active ETF space with a proposed offering of its own.

Advisors chasing alpha on behalf of their clients have a continuously growing menu of investment options to choose from thanks to the proliferation of alternative mutual funds.

Behold the typical mutual fund investor. This prime customer, according to the Investment Company Institute, has $80,000 in household income and $200,000 in financial assets. This customer typically had $120,000 invested in four mutual funds.

Merrill Edge provides investment products and services for the "mass affluent" customer, defined by Bank of America as people with $50,000-$250,000 in total household investable assets.

Alternative mutual funds, specifically managed futures funds, are becoming a hot commodity for advisors looking to add diversification and dampen volatility in their portfolios.

San Francisco-based Forward Management is looking to boost it sales and marketing efforts in anticipation of increasing advisor interest for alternative mutual funds.

American Funds American Mutual Fund was one of two mutual funds given a gold rating this week by Morningstar, Inc.

Henderson Global Investors today revealed that that, effective April 2, Iain Clark is stepping down from the daily management and operations of the International Opportunities Fund.

Nuveen Investments has promoted two portfolio managers, Emily Alejos and Andrew Thelen, to the position of co-chief investment officer of its Tradewinds Global Investors unit.

State Street Global Advisors on Thursday began trading the SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term High Yield Bond ETF on the NYSE Arca. The new SPDR ETF offers investors access to high yield corporate bonds with short durations. Its annual expense ratio is 40 basis points.

Milwaukee, Wis.-based UMB Fund Services, Inc. today revealed a new milestone for its Investment Managers Series Trust, which has surpassed the $2 billion mark in net assets.

Prudential Investments has launched a long-term growth equity fund that invests in companies from a broad range of countries, including emerging markets.

Retirement executives at Fidelity Investments today have a few billion reasons to smile. That’s because the plan provider has renewed its contract with Raytheon Company, a technology and defense company, through 2017. The two companies have a 20-year relationship that began in 1992.

Russell Investments has launched two exchange-traded funds focusing on high dividend yield investments in American companies.

Nearly 54% of mutual funds taking part in a Bonaire Software Solutions study on distributor rebate payments said that tracking and reconciliation is their biggest challenge.

Van Eck Global is stirring up another exchange-traded fund in the form of the Market Vectors Global Chemicals ET, which will bet on U.S. and non-U.S. chemical concerns.

Kenneth Burd has joined Delaware Investments as vice president, head of internal sales, responsible for managing the 15-member internal sales desk, which supports the firm's retail sales efforts. Burd started his position on March 5.

On March 1, Bill Gross, co-founder of the Pacific Investment Management Company, officially crossed the line and fired his opening salvo in the exchange-traded fund business.

Fixed-income funds see the biggest cash inflow.