Mutual funds

Disenchanted with mutual funds, some investors are turning to a pair of online registered investment advisory firms to create managed accounts that mimic the investments of preselected managers.

Long-term mutual funds took in $7.11 billion in the week ended Dec. 2, marking the 38th straight week of sales, which now total $384 billion for the period, the Investment Company Institute said.

PIMCO co-CIO Bill Gross told the Reuters Investment Outlook Summit he sees only faint economic growth in 2010, forcing the Federal Reserve to keep short-term interest rates low until it is certain the country is returning to “stable and substantial growth.”

Effective Jan. 1, Vanguard President and Chief Executive Officer F. William McNabb III will succeed John J. Brennan as chairman of the $1.3 trillion investment company. McNabb will continue to also hold the titles of president and CEO.

Putnam is laying off 104 people, or 5% of its staff, this month, primarily in operations and technology. However, three portfolio managers and 13 asset management support staff are also getting the ax. After the cuts, Putnam’s total staff will number 1,827, which includes 63 new hires this year, including 12 investment professionals.

Morningstar has launched an upgraded version of the free applications it developed for the Apple iPhone or iPod Touch in May that now include performance charts for stocks, funds, exchange-traded funds and indexes. Alongside this information, investors can view the Morningstar Market Barometer and data on each of the Morningstar fund categories, as well as market indexes and news.

Of the companies that have suspended matching contributions to their 401(k) plan, nearly half, 46.7%, have either already reinstated the match or plan to do so in the first quarter of 2010, the Profit Sharing/401k Council of America found. Among large companies, 52.7% have restored the match or plan to do so.

Participation in 401(k) plans, regardless of age or income, rises according to the size of a company, according to a report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

As investors ran from stock funds and sought the safety of bond funds this year, PIMCO’s Total Return fund ballooned to $199 billion in assets, and should its heady inflows continue at this pace, the fund will soon top the $202.3 billion record sister fund Growth Fund of America set in 2007, Bloomberg reports.

More mutual funds are contributing a portion of their profits to charity, which could sway more investors to choose their funds, The Wall Street Journal reports. However, advisers tell investors they should check to see if these admirable funds are charging higher fees and take a hard look at their performance.

Financial Research Corp. has released its list of the top 10 asset management marketers, with American Funds taking top honors, followed by Franklin Templeton and Fidelity.

iShares’ 529 plan, based in Arkansas, has become one of the sponsors of the Little Rock Museum of Discovery, and to celebrate the partnership, iShares commissioned Cirque du Soleil, another organization it supports, to perform two acts at the museum on Dec. 10. In the spirit of the museum, the circus performers will discuss the science behind their acts.

Active traders are feeling increasingly more optimistic about the stock market and the U.S. economic recovery, Charles Schwab found in an October survey of 300 active traders.

PIMCO has hired Neel Kashkari, the head of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program up until May, as a managing director and head of new investment initiatives, in charge of developing actively managed stock funds. Before that, Kashkari was a vice president at Goldman Sachs, where he led the firm’s information technology security investment banking practice. Previously, he was an aerospace engineer at TRW Corp., where he developed technology for NASA science missions.

Generation Y, those between 22 and 33, have taken the financial crisis to heart and have become more conservative about their finances, Fidelity found in a TNS Global survey of 1,017 people in that age bracket who hold a job and earn at least $15,000 a year.

The number of Securities and Exchange Commission settlements fell for the second consecutive fiscal year, according to data released Monday. But, settlements could increase in 2010 and 2011.

MFS Investment Management has promoted Michael W. Roberge to president, effective Jan. 1. He will continue to serve as chief investment officer of U.S. investments, reporting to Robert Manning. Manning, who was previously president, will himself continue to serve as chief executive officer and chief investment officer.

While the market may have recovered significantly in the second half of the year, many investors’ portfolios are back to 1999 levels, resulting in a “lost decade” of investing, AARP Financial said.

U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Herb Kohl (D-WI) have introduced a bill aimed at helping Americans save enough so that they will not be in danger of outliving their retirement savings.

Morningstar has started publishing credit ratings for about 100 of the largest U.S. companies. Over the next year, it plans to produce credit ratings for up to 1,000 companies currently covered by its equity analyst team. The ratings are available for free for institutional equity research clients at its website.