In times like these, when the equity markets swing wildly and just about everything can look cheap from certain angles, the focus on value has to be especially precise.
Some mutual fund companies are deciding that the cash their funds earn from lending stocks doesn't justify the risk in light of unpredictable markets and the Securities and Exchange Commission's crackdown on short sales of selected financial stocks.
Ameriprise Financial Inc. has no immediate plans to bail out clients of advisers of its independent broker-dealer subsidiary, Securities America Inc., which saw $60 million erased last week when a giant money market fund, the Reserve Primary Fund, “broke the buck."
Despite the volatility of the markets in recent weeks, nearly a third of financial intermediaries are choosing to invest more in equity funds, according to a new survey.
“Domestic equity has the highest predictability of earnings, and the lowest volatility. No other country comes close to the U.S. in terms of aggressiveness in monetary policy.”
The head of Lancer Management Group LLC and Lancer Management Group II LLC has been found guilty of overstating the hedge funds’ valuations, manipulating the prices of seven securities and falsely representing the funds’ holdings in newsletters.
Under the agreement, the Putnam fund purchased shares in Federated fund with cash and portfolio securities valued at $12.3 billion, said Putnam spokeswoman Laura McNamara.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has ordered more than two dozen hedge funds to turn over trading records and e-mail communications made between Sept. 1-19, The Wall Street Journal reported today.
Sales of existing homes fell to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.91 million units in August, down 2.2% from July and 10.7% from a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors of Chicago.
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts posted a total investment loss of $1.1 billion for the six months ended June 30, down from a net gain of $3.4 billion in the first half of 2007, according to a prospectus filed with the SEC.
Third Avenue Institutional International Value Fund LP, a fund of Third Avenue Management LLC, filed a class action Friday against Reserve Management Corp. hinging on the firm's redemption process last week, when the net asset value of the Reserve Primary Fund fell to 97 cents.
Redemptions from U.S. money market mutual funds declined on Friday, with investors pulling out $5.2 billion compared to $47.7 billion the day before, according to the Westborough, Mass.-based research firm iMoneyNet.
Barclays PLC won’t be “assuming the obligation” of traditional structured products and exchange traded notes issued by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., according to a source close to the situation.
A suit filed by Ameriprise alleges that The Reserve gave special treatment to its largest clients just as the Primary Fund was losing value and about to “break the buck,” or dip below $1 per share.
A group of the world's largest hedge funds are planning to sue the Financial Services Authority for millions of pounds of losses allegedly resulting from the regulator's ban on short selling, according to a report in the Sunday Telegraph.
Baltimore-based Legg Mason is weighing a privatization move that could include one or two private-equity investors, with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. being one of the interested parties, the New York Post reported.
The Department of the Treasury’s plan to back money market funds will include both taxable and tax-exempt funds.
Reserve Management Corp. New York filed with the SEC on Friday to suspend all redemptions from its Primary Fund and the U.S. Government Fund and postpone the date of payment of redemption proceeds for a period longer than seven days after the tender of shares for redemption.
Mutual fund families are cutting expenses because asset levels have dropped, reflecting the rocky markets.
The Congressional Human Rights Caucus is pressuring mutual fund companies voluntarily to divest their holdings in companies that do business in Sudan.
