Mutual funds

While most asset managers have survived the global financial crisis, they still face many uncertainties: internal cost pressures, changes in products, heightened investor demands, headcount reductions, fund closures and tighter regulatory scrutiny.

With a little cooperation, 403(b) retirement plans for educational and governmental workers can move even closer to resembling their 401(k) counterparts, become more streamlined and boost participation, but first, industry participants will need to agree on best practices for the plans that will help everyone speak the same language.

The commissioners and staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission have been working around the clock, looking for ways to refine and improve regulations in the aftermath of one of the worst recessions in history, but this important work takes a delicate touch. Changes to one area could have unexpected ramifications to other areas, and every move must be planned with care and consideration.

Seventy-three percent of Baby Boomers who own a traditional IRA are not planning to convert it to a Roth IRA in 2010, when the previous household income limit of $100,000 will be eliminated, USAA Wealth Management found in a survey. Any investor who converts in 2010 will have two years to pay the taxes.

Vanguard is limiting new purchases and not accepting new accounts for the Primecap Core Fund and two related funds, Primecap and Capital Opportunity.

The Jones v. Harris Associates fund fee case pending before the Supreme Court could very well be found in favor of investors, and if so, that could have tremendous ramifications for the 53 million American households that own mutual funds, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Jackson National Life reported a record $3.4 billion in retail sales and deposits in the second quarter. In the first half of the year, sales and deposits totaled $6.1 billion, up 3% from the first half of 2008.

The $4.5 billion U.S. Natural Gas Fund, an exchange-traded fund, may have an investment mandate for the U.S., but regulators’ crackdown on speculation is forcing the fund to look overseas, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Although actively managing Treasuries has always proven difficult, PIMCO is making the case for actively managed TIPS funds, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Fidelity Investments has partnered with an afterschool program, Building Educated Leaders for Life, to bring the “Stock Market 101” curriculum to middle-school students in the Boston area this summer. It will educate sixth- and seventh-graders about the stock market and the economy to help them learn about the value of investing and, perhaps, encourage some to enter the asset management industry.

Despite the turmoil in the financial services industry, some mutual funds that specialize in the sector have not only outperformed their benchmark but have delivered double-digit returns, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Investors dropped almost $44 billion into open-end mutual funds in July, bringing the year-to-date total for inflows to $171 billion, according to data released by Morningstar. Taxable bond funds were the overwhelming favorite, taking 59%, or $26 billion of July’s proceeds.

Since the market meltdown at the end of 2007, 51% of investors think about their finances every day, whereas before, only 27% did, Charles Schwab found in a survey.

The average 401(k) account balance rose 13.5% in the second quarter to $53,900, which was perhaps behind the trend for more investors to increase their deferral savings rate than to decrease it, Fidelity Investments reports.

In a survey of 757 investors between the ages of 35 and 64 with investable assets of at least $100,000, Phoenix Marketing International found that more than half say their financial situation is worse than a year ago and two-thirds don’t expect it to get any better for at least one year.

Sun Life Financial announced Tuesday it is planning its first U.S. marketing and branding campaign, to better enforce its name among American consumers and financial advisers.

After suffering stunning defeats across the board in 2008, equity fund portfolio managers are showing their mettle and proving their worth so far this year, with the average actively managed fund beating the S&P 500 by 4.85 percentage points, The Boston Globe reports.

Target-date funds are not only not created equal in terms of risk exposure, glidepath and performance but also in terms of fees, according to a recent report from Morningstar.

Investor confidence among affluent investors increased in July, according to monthly data released by Spectrem Group.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney became the latest firm to place restrictions on the sale of leveraged, inverse and leveraged inverse exchange-traded funds.