Mutual funds

Contrary to popular belief, contrarian funds don't bet against the stock market. They bet against mainstream trends and look for undervalued areas with strong potential.

Cutting edge technology has facilitated the unified managed account (UMA) becoming ubiquitous within the wealth management industry. Today multiple investment products such as separate accounts, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds can all peacefully co-exist, nestled together under a single client registration.

These days the concept of sustainability is a hot ticket into the world of socially responsible investing. Just last week, a trio of investment management firms announced plans to incorporate the components of sustainability investing into their product offerings.

China's securities regulator has approved the creation of three new mutual funds in an effort to bolster the country's sagging stock markets, the Xinhua news agency reports.New Century was approved for a stock fund and Lion and Changsheng were approved for funds that can have a stock/bond mixture.China's benchmark index Shanghai composite closed at a seven-month low of 3,962.673 on Friday.

The Investment Company Institute said total money market mutual fund assets rose for the week ending March 12 by $6.46 billion to $3.454 trillion.Retail money market mutual fund assets rose by $5.55 billion to $1.246 trillion, taxable money market fund assets in the retail category rose by $3.17 billion to $951.36 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets rose by $2.37 billion to $294.66 billion.Institutional money market fund assets rose by $913 million to $2.208 trillion, taxable money market fund assets fell by $1.98 billion to $2.027 trillion, and tax-exempt fund assets rose by $2.89 billion to $180.99 billion.Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet Inc., said the seven-day average yield on money market mutual funds fell from 2.78% on March 4 to 2.73% on March 11. The 30-day average yield fell from 2.96% to 2.88% during the same period.The seven-day compounded yield fell from 2.82% to 2.77%, while the 30-day compounded yield fell from 3.01% to 2.92%. The average maturity of portfolios held by money funds was 42 days, up from 41 days, Money Fund said.

The mutual fund industry in Mexico is poised for growth in the coming years as average household incomes increase and Mexican investors change their savings habits, according to Business News Americas.

Chinese mutual funds posted moderate gains in February after declining more than seven percent in January, according to a recent report.

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, the former New York State attorney general who was instrumental in waging war against Wall Street corruption and the mutual fund industry’s after-hours trading and market-timing activities, publicly apologized Monday afternoon to his family and the public for unspecified behavior, but stopped short of resigning his position as governor.

Innovation is the name of the game for Keith Geary, CEO, president and chairman of Capital West Securities, a small, 13-year-old Oklahoma City-based broker/dealer. The firm recently registered its new investment advisory arm OOK Advisors and last week filed to offer the Capital West Oklahoma Index Fund, the first ETF to invest exclusively in publicly-traded companies headquartered in Oklahoma. The ETF is expected to begin trading on the American Stock Exchange in April.

Fidelity VP Investigated for Entertainment Methods

Principal Funds Names New President

Many community banking companies have wealth management units, but lately more small and midsize wealth managers have been getting into the banking business.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's recent proposals aimed at easing the burdens of providers bringing new exchange-traded funds to market should make new ETF launches an easier proposition while fostering even more product creativity, said investment management sources.

A proposal by the Securities and Exchange Commission to shorten mutual fund disclosure statements is meeting widespread support, and a new rule could take effect by 2009, if not sooner.

Denver-based Transamerica IDEX Mutual Funds group has shortened its name to Transamerica Funds, as it now resides within the larger Transamerica Asset Management Group, under insurance company parent Aegon. Plans are underway to identify and potentially merge redundant or overlapping funds, expand distribution efforts, craft retirement income-based solutions, strengthen the Transamerica brand and build the firm into a future top-tier investment group.

Canadian investors purchased between $5.9 billion and $6.5 billion in mutual funds during the month of February, a significant jump from January sales, according to the Investment Funds Institute of Canada.

Van Kampen Retirement Strategy Trust has filed for 10 new target retirement date funds with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The British government is considering an overhaul of their tax code for mutual funds that could put the responsibility for declaring income from funds directly on investors, according to foreign news reports.

As the stock and bond markets continue to take a beating, institutions, individuals and hedge funds have begun pumping dollars into commodity mutual funds and other investment vehicles based on commodities.

Financial companies should take precautions to protect themselves from fraud from within and without, but companies should be careful not to cross the line and start spying on employees.