Mutual funds

According to a survey by Cogent, among the top five providers of exchange-traded funds, Vanguard is the only one to make gains in 2010, climbing 10 percentage points to become a “true iShares challenger.”

Financial advisers rate Vanguard the No. 1 provider of exchange-traded funds, giving the company high marks on nine out of 10 metrics, Cogent Research found, in its 2010 Adviser Brandscape survey of 1,560 advisers. Vanguard rated a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 33%, compared to market share leader Barclays iShares’ 20%. NPS is a standardized loyalty metric developed by Bain & Co. and deployed across many industries, according to Cogent.

Latest stories warn investors against absolute-return funds, hidden 401(k) fees, hardship withdrawals.

Municipal bond mutual funds reported another healthy slug of new money last week as demand for high-quality fixed income continued to drive investment flows. Muni funds that report their figures weekly posted a net inflow of $728.4 million during the week ended Aug. 25, according to Lipper FMI.

Municipal bond mutual funds reported another healthy slug of new money last week as demand for high-quality fixed income continued to drive investment flows.

When Grail Advisors officially closes two of its active exchange-traded funds prior to the market bell on Aug. 30, the total universe of active ETFs will fall to just 28.

Outflows slowed to $597.3 million the week ending Aug. 23 after hemorrhaging $4.99 billion the week before, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com. Total assets declined slightly to $340.75 billion from $341.34 billion.

Outflows slowed to $597.3 million the week ending Aug. 23 after hemorrhaging $4.99 billion the week before, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com. Total assets declined slightly to $340.75 billion from $341.34 billion.

Fund managers and other experts say that target-date funds need to increase the amount of information they provide investors to understand their investment risk. But they don’t want the Securities and Exchange Commission to change the way the funds are named.

Investment funds, lawmakers and other fund experts say that target-date funds need to increase the amount of information they provide investors to understand their investment risk. But they don’t want the Securities and Exchange Commission to change the way the funds are named.

Outside of currency and fixed-income plays, active exchange-traded funds are struggling to gather meaningful assets.

In a letter to the SEC, investment management firm says it does support enhanced disclosure.

Equity market volatility and investors’ subsequent flight to fixed income seems to be spurring product manufacturers to focus more on an area that currently has seen sparse investor interest: International fixed income.

A recent realignment of The Hartford Financial Services Group resulted in a new position for Jim Davey running the company’s mutual fund business.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has given money market funds a reprieve from following an amendment to money market fund regulations requiring allowing them to approve of the credit rating agencies they must use to determine whether a security is eligible for investment.

The Boston company said Tuesday it is introducing new Retirement Choices target-date portfolios, which are designed to take participants “to” retirement and accommodate the participant who wishes to select another investment strategy at the time of retirement.

Hedge funds finally make it back into the black, returning 0.35% year to date in July, Morningstar says.

The Toronot company launched a fund that can invest in junk bonds.

Cash continues flooding into municipal bond mutual funds as retail investors embrace yields many once scorned as being far too low. Municipal bond mutual funds that report their figures weekly posted a net inflow of $927.1 million during the week ended Aug. 18, according to Lipper FMI.

Ameriprise eliminates redundancies in mutual fund coverage following its acquisition of Columbia and subsequent merger with it RiverSource investment unit.