Mutual funds

Benefits consulting firms Mercer and Callan Associates are creating a mega investment consulting shop, as the two have announced plans to merge their operations.

MIAMI - With the average equity mutual fund portfolio down more than 38% in 2008, money market mutual funds are quickly becoming one of the only safe havens for risk-averse investors. Money market fund assets recently topped $4 trillion for the first time, making money funds the single largest mutual fund group, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Separately managed accounts’ claim that they pick only the cream of the crop to manage investors’ money appears to have dogged it in the fourth quarter, The Wall Street Journal reports. Disappointed in less-than-stellar returns, investors withdrew assets from SMA accounts held at brokerage firms at a far more rapid pace than they did from mutual funds.

Putnam Investments has hired David Glancy as managing director and portfolio manager. A leading fund manager in both equity and high-yield debt, Glancy has been asked to also cover bank debt and undervalued and leveraged companies.

RiverSource Investments has launched the RiverSource Recovery and Infrastructure Fund, an open-end mutual fund that will seek long-term opportunities around the world.

Morningstar has developed a series of 18 asset allocation indexes for investors and advisers to use as benchmarks for target-date and target-risk funds.

As the global financial landscape continues to reshape, mergers and acquisitions this year will be led by those firms seeking capital or those that have capital in hand to put to work, according to Jefferies Putnam Lovell.

Of all of the possible defensive investment choices available, healthcare funds are doing the best, up 2.8% year-to-date, The Wall Street Journal reports. Strong earnings, healthy balance sheets, steady demand and industry consolidation are fortifying the sector, which is even beating telecommunications and consumer staples.

Kimberly Mustin has joined Legg Mason as managing director and head of institutional business, Americas.

Anthony Ryan, Under Secretary of Domestic Finance with the Treasury Department until just last month, will be joining Fidelity Investments to develop new products and strategies.

As investors move to fee-based financial planners, rather than those paid per transaction, those planners have become more comfortable recommending exchange-traded funds, according to Strategic Insight.

Money market fund assets have topped $4 trillion for the first time, greatly buoyed by the Treasury Department’s $1 NAV guarantees and financing to purchase asset-backed commercial paper from money funds, which has eased the credit markets.

John Hancock Expands 401(k) Sales Team by 18

In light of all of the demanding regulations that asset managers now face at a time when the nation is gripped by a financial crisis, not to mention the inevitable additional oversight that the new presidential administration will impose on the financial services industry, chief compliance officers are taking a more critical look than ever before at their resources. One of the obvious solutions to the demands they face is outsourcing, which today has become a mission-critical reality for even the biggest fund complexes.

The mutual fund industry has seen significant changes in the traditional third-party distribution model, especially this past year with the collapse of several major wirehouses and a spate of merger and acquisition activity. Alongside these changes, more broker/dealers are taking on the responsibility for recordkeeping mutual fund subaccounts.

The 17 exchange-traded funds Northern Trust Corp. has decided to close will have plenty of company in the exchange-traded fund graveyard before the year is out, experts predict.

States Offer Savings Accounts for 529 Investors

Morningstar Gives Three Funds 'F' Grades

Senators Reintroduce 401(k) Fee Disclosure Bill

BOSTON - For decades, annuities were shunned by money managers for their high cost and lack of liquidity.