September 2008

Original Money Market Fund Breaks the Buck
The Reserve family of funds, which originated the money market fund concept with what is now called The Primary Fund and has some $120 billion under management, announced September 16 that The Primary Fund has broken the buck, putting the NAV at $0.97 as of 3:00 PM on September 16.

An Alternative to Target Date Funds and VAs
Structured Investment Management (SIM) Inc., has launched a new mutual fund, the S&P 500 Capital Appreciation Fund, that it says overcomes the poor performance of dynamic asset allocation strategies used by target date funds, many variable annuities, and certain principal-protected notes.

Number of ETFs Exceeds 700; Six New PowerShares Global ETFs
State Street reported that as of August 31, there were 710 exchange traded funds available in the U.S. offered by 24 ETF managers; two new individual ETFs were launched in August, State Street reported, and one new manager joined the fray. ETF industry assets grew $4.7 billion in August to reach a total of approximately $582 billion.

How the Wall St. Earthquake Will Affect Clients
How are advisors reacting to the latest news of the changing landscape on Wall Street, with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America? For one thing, they’re putting it into the context of the broader credit and housing crisis that has affected the markets and the economy for the past 18 months. For another, they’re taking a much longer view.

Still at the Top
Jim Moffett, lead manager of the UMB Scout International Fund, was as new to international equity markets as the firm was when it launched the fund 15 years ago. Today, he manages an impressive $4.1 billion in international assets, through the fund, an ADR product and in separately managed accounts. UMB has also just launched the Scout International Discovery Fund, a product designed to take advantage of small- and mid-cap stocks in international markets.

The New Sibling
Like its predecessor the UMB Scout International Fund, the UMB Scout International Discovery Fund (launched on December 31, 2007, with the ticker UMBDX), looks to invest for the long term in stocks that present good growth prospects at a decent price—stocks of companies that “we can live with,” says Jim Moffett, lead manager for both portfolios.

Go East, Young Man!
For investors interested in diversifying their portfolios with European holdings, the best advice may be to look to the emerging markets of Eastern Europe, as opposed to the more developed economies of Western Europe.

These articles and a lot more mutual fund-related content can be found at www.investmentadvisor.com in the Topics section under Mutual Funds.

Also at InvestmentAdvisor.com

Government Nationalizes AIG; Fed Leaves Rates Unchanged
The Federal government essentially nationalized the American International Group, the world’s largest insurer, on Tuesday night, Sep. 16, via an announcement by the Federal Reserve that it, with the support of the Treasury Dept., would make a secured, $85 billion two-year loan to AIG so it could sell some of its businesses “with the least possible disruption to the overall economy.”