May 11, 2012 -- by Cathy Scott

Industry Leaders: Market Refocusing On Outcome-Based Products

A cross-section of industry leaders predict a slowdown in new fund churn over the next decade and an increasing emphasis on outcome-based strategies, such as capital preservation or dividend income.

May 10, 2012 -- by Cathy Scott

Hobson: Stick To Principles, Innovate To Overcome Challenges

The way to face challenging times is to stick to the time-honored principles of investing, rather than seeking the “quick score,” Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Investments, told attendees at the ICI General Meeting at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C., yesterday.

May 10, 2012

Stevens Unveils Paper On Commodities Pricing

Commodity mutual funds are not driving commodity markets, and penalizing those funds will hurt millions of average American investors, Paul Schott Stevens, president and ceo of Investment Company Institute, told the ICI General Membership Meeting audience yesterday.

May 11, 2012

Reporter’s Notebook

Apr 26, 2012 -- by Nick Jardine

NETFA Chief Blasts Regulators

John Hyland, chairman of the newly formed National Exchange-Traded Fund Association, took aim at regulators during a roundtable discussion on commodity exchange-traded funds at the Capital Link Closed-End Funds & Global ETF Forum on Wednesday.

Apr 26, 2012 -- by Nick Jardine

FocusShares Eyes 401(k) Market

Erik Liik, president and ceo of FocusShares, told FII that his firm is looking to break into the 401(k) market.

Apr 27, 2012 -- by Nick Jardine

PIMCO Leads The Way In Active ETFs

According to exchange-traded fund providers, actively managed ETFs are set to become more prevalent in the near future following the success of the ETF version of PIMCO’s Total Return Fund.

Apr 27, 2012 -- by Nick Jardine

ETF Industry Split On Future Challenges

Big players in the exchange-traded fund industry are split over the largest hurdle the industry will face over the next year.

Apr 27, 2012

Reporter’s Notebook

Chaos erupted among the Metropolitan Club’s staff during the meet-and-greet breakfast when a large box containing either valuable merchandise belonging to Van Eck Global and/or a substantial quantity of brioche disappeared.

Mar 23, 2012 -- by Stan Wilson

SEC’s Walter Extends Money Fund Olive Branch

Securities and Exchange Commission member Elisse Walter moved to reopen dialogue between the money fund industry and regulators at the Investment Company Institute’s Investment Management meeting last week.

Mar 23, 2012 -- by Hillary Jackson

ICI’s McMillan Lays Out Threats Hanging Over Fund Industry

Setting an ominous tone at the start of the 2012 Mutual Funds and Investment Management Conference, Karrie McMillan, general counsel to the Investment Company Institute, declared the fund industry under attack.

Mar 21, 2012 -- by Stan Wilson

Donohue Seeks Relief For Derivatives ETFs

Andrew Donohue is pushing for the Securities and Exchange Commission to give limited relief from the ongoing moratorium on launches of exchange-traded funds focused on derivatives.

Mar 21, 2012 -- by Stan Wilson

ICI Conference: Education, Derivatives Top Concerns

Education, derivatives, demographics and regulation were on the minds of panelists discussing the outlook for the fund industry over the next decade.

Mar 21, 2012 -- by Stan Wilson

Legal Eagles: Don't Let Prospectuses Bite You

Fund boards and their counsel must not relax vigilance against anything in fund documents that might open directors to lawsuits, members of the panel on litigation developments warned the audience at the 2012 ICI Investment Management Conference.

Mar 22, 2012 -- by Stan Wilson

Industry Skeptical On SIFI’s Reach

The Financial Stability Oversight Council likely won’t include mutual funds in its initial rule designating non-bank financial firms as systemically important, panelists at the 2012 ICI Investment Management Conference speculated.

Mar 13, 2012 -- by Stan Wilson

Fund Lawyer: CCOs Must Be More Vigilant

Chief compliance officers at fund firms need to be more vigilant due to the heavy regulation the industry now faces.

Mar 13, 2012 -- by Stan Wilson

Whistleblower Compliance Bypass Nags SEC

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of the Whistleblower continues to hear misgivings about the new whistleblower incentive program, representatives said at the Investment Adviser Association Compliance Conference.

Mar 13, 2012 -- by Stan Wilson

Asset Management Unit Eyes Fund Fees

A Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement official gave the Investment Adviser Association Compliance Conference attendees new insight into what’s on the minds of the asset management unit’s staffers when they turn their attention to mutual funds.

Mar 02, 2012 -- by Stan Wilson

New OCIE Shows Its Teeth

When members of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations visits funds these days, they will arrive with a list of tough questions after having done extensive detective work.

Mar 01, 2012 -- by Stan Wilson

Paredes: Start Over With A New Volcker Rule

Securities and Exchange Commission member Troy Paredes told the crowd at The SEC Speaks he was in favor of scrapping the proposed Volcker Rule to ban bank proprietary trading and start over again with a new draft proposal.

Mar 01, 2012 -- by Stan Wilson

SEC Moving On Target-Date Rules

The Securities and Exchange Commission has bolstered its case for stronger target-date fund disclosure with the findings of an investor survey the SEC sponsored.

Feb 28, 2012 -- by Stan Wilson

Plaze: Money Fund Proposal Coming In Two Months

At some point between now and the end of April, the Securities and Exchange Commission will propose rules requiring that money market funds have a capital cushion and “some sort of minimum balance requirement,” a senior agency official predicted during the second day of The SEC Speaks.

Feb 28, 2012 -- by Stan Wilson

SEC’s Accountant Kroeker Noncommittal On IFRS

James Kroeker, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s chief accountant, is staying away from predictions about the harmonization of the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and the International Financial Reporting Standards.

Jan 27, 2012 -- by Cathy Scott

ETF Heavyweights Tout Divergent Strategies

Five exchange-traded funds providers that account for more than 90% of the industry’s $1.1 trillion of assets under management are taking divergent approaches to development in 2012. Senior executives at BlackRock iShares, State Street Global Advisors, Vanguard, Invesco PowerShares and Proshares touted their respective strategies and debated their merits at IndexUniverse’s Inside ETFs Conference in Hollywood, Fla., Jan. 22-24.

Jan 27, 2012 -- by Cathy Scott

Innovation Fuels Advance of Fixed-Income ETFs

The dominant theme for fixed-income exchange-traded funds is innovation, and attendees at IndexUniverse’s Inside ETFs Conference in Hollywood, Fla., were told to expect this year the launch of funds with more precise sector and credit buckets in the U.S. and more hedged and unhedged single-country exposure in emerging markets.

Jan 27, 2012 -- by Cathy Scott

Providers Argue For Passive/Hybrid/Active ETF Combo

The progression of exchange-trade funds product development from passive indices to hybrid alternative weightings to actively managed gives investors the flexibility and control to create diversified portfolios, panelists argued at IndexUniverse’s Inside ETFs Conference in Hollywood, Fla., this week.

Jan 27, 2012 -- by Cathy Scott

Index Construction Paramount In Emerging Markets ETFs

Understanding and targeting index construction is paramount for investing in emerging markets exchange-traded funds, said participants in a panel at IndexUniverse’s Inside ETFs Conference in Hollywood, Fla., this week.

Jan 25, 2012 -- by Cathy Scott

ETF Industry Grapples With Index Construction Debate

An increasing number of exchange-traded funds providers are launching products that track indices which use alternative weighting methodologies to traditional market-cap weighting, sparking an industry-wide debate over the efficacy of these strategies.

Jan 27, 2012 -- by Cathy Scott

Reporter's Notebook

Nov 10, 2011 -- by Cathy Scott

Strategists: Closed-End Funds Aren’t Diversifiers

There is a high level of correlation among closed-end funds, and investors should be wary about using these products alone to build diversified investment portfolios, said Michael Jabara, v.p. and head of exchange-traded and closed-end fund research at Morgan Stanly Smith Barney.

Nov 10, 2011 -- by Cathy Scott

PMs Position CEFs As Illiquid Markets Access

Investors can access diverse, illiquid markets via the closed-end funds structure, including senior floating-rate loans, precious metals and early-stage companies, portfolio managers at the CEFNetwork conference at the Grand Hyatt in New York on Nov. 9 said.

Nov 10, 2011 -- by Cathy Scott

Analysts To CEFS: Beware Capital Borrowing

Return of capital is the 800-pound gorilla in the room when it comes to equity-based closed-end funds, according to panelists at the CEFNetwork conference at the Grand Hyatt in New York on Nov. 9.

Nov 10, 2011 -- by Cathy Scott

CEFs Need To Watch Strategy To Drive Returns

Returns on closed-end fund investments are often driven by trading strategies, such as discount capture and investing in funds that have managed distribution programs (MDP).

Nov 03, 2011 -- by Cathy Scott

Schwab Upgrades Portfolio Rebalancer

Advisors can now exclude client holdings from rebalancing calculations and generate individual or block trade files for equities and exchange-traded funds, along with matching allocation files, on Charles Schwab’s Portfolio Rebalancer.

Nov 04, 2011 -- by Cathy Scott

Long-Term Horizon, Manager Selection Key To EM Returns

Advisors seeking yield in emerging markets should have at least a five- to seven-year investment horizon and focus on the manager selection process, participants in a panel session at Charles Schwab’s IMPACT advised.

Nov 03, 2011 -- by Cathy Scott

Fixed-Income, Currency Strategies Dominate ETF Development

Fixed-income and currency strategies are dominating development pipelines in the exchange-traded funds space.

Nov 03, 2011 -- by Cathy Scott

Changes In Portfolio Theory Threaten Active Strategies

Changes in portfolio theory, such as the notion that alpha comes from factor bets rather than security selection, threaten the demise of actively managed, long-only equity strategies, according to Patrick Geddes, chief investment officer at Aperio Group.

Sep 28, 2011 -- by Cathy Scott

Asset Managers Tout REITS

Asset management firms that offer real estate investment trusts recommend advisors put 5-10% of their clients’ assets in the sector, citing strong fundamentals.

Sep 28, 2011 -- by Cathy Scott

JPMorgan: Portfolios Need Alts

Investment portfolios should include some level of alternatives investments to provide exposure to uncorrelated asset classes, according to David Kelly, chief market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.

Sep 30, 2011 -- by Cathy Scott

Divergent Alts Strategies Highlight Need For Education

The divergent strategies outlined by the four portfolio managers on the Long/Short Debt panel at Monday’s Alternative Mutual Funds Forum in Boston underscore the necessity of carefully evaluating the hedge fund-like strategies that are being packaged into mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, financial advisor attendees said.

Jun 09, 2011 -- by Jason Kephart

Morningstar Looks Forward With New Ratings

Morningstar will begin rolling out a new forward-looking rating system for open-end mutual funds this fall.

Jun 09, 2011 -- by Jason Kephart

PIMCO Total Return ETF Steals Spotlight

PIMCO’s highly anticipated actively managed Total Return exchange-traded fund took center stage during the “Fund Research Roundtable” session at the 23rd annual Morningstar Investment Conference.

Jun 08, 2011 -- by Jason Kephart

Gross: Bond Investors Must Get Outside U.S.

Bond investors are going to have to look outside of the U.S. in order to achieve a total return above inflation, Bill Gross, co-chief investment officer at PIMCO, told attendees at the 23rd annual Morningstar Investment Conference.

May 06, 2011

Vanguard, Legg Mason To Enhance Social Media Use

Vanguard Group and Legg Mason, already heavy users of social media outlets, are planning to enhance and expand what they do online.

May 05, 2011

No Love Lost On Consultants

Staley Cates, president of Longleaf Partners Funds, pounced on the opportunity to air his (bad) feelings toward consultants during a session Thursday morning. When asked by moderator John Rogers, chairman and ceo of Ariel Investments, whether consultants ask him the questions they should be asking, Cates replied: “I’m not that fond of that part of the world and they’re not fond of us either. If they were fantastic investors, they’d probably be doing that instead of consulting about it.”

May 05, 2011 -- by Hillary Jackson

Fund Bigs: Style Boxes Out, Go-Anywhere In

The mutual fund industry will continue to move away from style boxes toward flexible mandates that enable fund managers to react to market events and invest wherever they see opportunity, executives from JPMorgan Funds, OppenheimerFunds, Fidelity Investments and Invesco Perpetual (U.K.) said Thursday morning.

May 05, 2011 -- by Hillary Jackson

Longleaf: Selling Minority Stake A Possibility

Longleaf Partners Funds President Staley Cates told attendees on Thursday that while the firm intends to remain a private entity, it may consider selling a minority interest in the firm in the future.

May 05, 2011 -- by Hillary Jackson

‘Experienced’ Managers Dole Out Advice To Consultants

Consultants rarely ask asset managers questions that get at the heart of what the managers do and what they’re likely to deliver, according to the four seasoned investors who comprised the “Experience Talks” panel Thursday morning.

May 05, 2011 -- by Hillary Jackson

Eaton Vance To Enter ETF Arena By Year’s End

Eaton Vance will launch its first actively managed exchange-traded fund before year-end to meet “very high demand” from its client base.

Mar 29, 2011 -- by Stan Wilson

Banks To Unload Repo Risk

A new system for overnight repurchase agreement transactions used by funds will soon be in place, according to Norman Lind, head money market trader at Fidelity Management & Research Corp.

Mar 29, 2011 -- by Stan Wilson

Revenue Sharing Disclosure Could Go Online

The top advisor to the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission supports using the Internet to inform investors of revenue sharing arrangements.

Mar 29, 2011 -- by Stan Wilson

Ex-FSA Official Sees Info Gap In Fund Sales

Disclosing broker conflicts of interest when fund shares are sold may not be enough to ensure investors don’t get burned by the products they buy, a former European regulatory official suggested at a panel during the Investment Company Institute Investment Management Conference.

May 11, 2011 -- by Jean Heinz

GAO Vets Tax Saver’s Credit

The Government Accountability Office is researching modifications to the existing saver’s credit in the tax code, which could further encourage lower-income workers to save for retirement.

May 12, 2011 -- by Jean Heinz

Retirement Players Talk 401(k) Leakage

Industry leaders Tuesday said they were concerned about the growing prevalence of leakage in 401(k) plans and its impact on retirement security at the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association 2011 Public Policy Forum.

May 12, 2011 -- by Jean Heinz

NYC Takes Action On Retiree Asset Outflows

The New York City Deferred Compensation Plan is aggressively targeting retention of retiree accounts and is making headway, Manager Shauna Marcus said at the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association 2011 Public Policy Forum.

Sep 15, 2011 -- by Stan Wilson

Hedge Funds Invade Mutual Fund Market

By forcing hedge funds to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Dodd-Frank Act has opened the door to hedge funds to go after the same retail investors as mutual funds, panelists told attendees of the Investment Company Institute’s Tax & Accounting Conference.

Sep 15, 2011 -- by Stan Wilson

OCIE Lays Out Priorities

Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations outlined its priorities during a panel last week at the Investment Company Institute’s Tax and Accounting Conference.

Sep 14, 2011

SEC Enforcement Outlines Fund Priorities

The accounting chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Investment Management laid out the asset management unit’s priorities for the audience on Monday at the Investment Company Institute Tax & Accounting Conference.

Sep 13, 2011 -- by Cathy Scott

Turner Savages Accounting Standards

Lynn Turner, former Securities and Exchange Commission chief accountant blasted present accounting standards for failing to fairly value bad assets and instead focusing on compromise that shortchanges investors.