We love you, Tom Bailey
From Morningstar
The spat between Kansas City Southern Industries and its mutual fund subsidiary, Janus Capital, is taking a conciliatory turn. In its annual report filed earlier this month, KCSI said it could fire Janus Thomas Bailey and suffer no ill effects. In a conference call yesterday, KCSI said Bailey is not expendable and that the company still respects and supports him. KCSI CFO Joe Monello made a point of praising Janus' management for the fund family's first quarter revenue, then complained about what he called "misguided and inaccurate" media reporting on the company's stance toward Bailey.

Monthly scorecard
From Morningstar
Net new money flowing into stock mutual funds fell sharply in March compared with the boom in February, but it was still a strong month given the volatility. Despite that volatility, shareholders continue to favor tech funds, while avoiding more-conservative value and bond funds. Net inflows into stock mutual funds fell 34% to $36 billion from February's record $54 billion, according to the Investment Company Institute, the Washington mutual fund trade group. Despite the drop, March's intake still qualified as the third-best month ever for stock mutual funds, according to the ICI.

Fido managerial departures may mean trouble
From The Boston Globe
Tech investing is entering dangerous waters, and Fidelity Investments won't have five of its top technology stockpickers to help navigate. They've all gone to other firms since December. Erin Sullivan's, the 29-year-old manager of the popular Aggressive Growth fund, started the trend when she quit to run her own hedge fund in February. In addition, the four analysts running Fidelity's five high-tech sector funds - a combined $20 billion of assets - have all left in the last four months. Fidelity calls the turnover "light," and says it matters less given the size of the firm. Observers aren't so sure.

Folios to make their debut
From SmartMoney.com
What do you get when you cross a mutual fund and a discount brokerage account? Folios, a new product from Steve Wallman, former commissioner of the SEC. Folios are kind of a wrap account for equities. They are customizable sets of up to 50 stocks that can be bought through Wallman's wholly owned brokerage subsidiary, Folio Investments. The price is fixed at a $295 annual fee for up to three Folios and $95 for each additional one. There are generally no commissions and trading costs are low. Several hundred investors are currently using Folios in a beta test. Offerings include three S&P 500-based Folios of different risk levels, an Internet Folio, and geographic Folios that track markets like the United Kingdom and Israel. Each Folio can be customized by the investor, eliminating some stocks and adding others. People will be watching.

Merrill and A.G. Edwards team up
From Morningstar
The trend in the financial-services industry is for competitors to sell each others products and services. The latest example is the deal between Merrill Lynch and A.G. Edwards to sell funds from Merrill's Mercury Asset Management Unit. The arrangement, which kicks off in May, is the first of several deals Merrill plans to cut with banks, broker-dealers, and financial planners, in order to bolster sales outside of its traditional network of 14,000 brokers.

 

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