Births

Janus [profile] has launched the Janus Diversified Alternatives Fund.

WisdomTree [profile] has launched the WisdomTree Global Corporate Bond ETF.

Exchange Traded Concepts has launched the Forensic Accounting ETF.

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Pregnancies

IndexUniverse reports that Precidian Investments [profile] recently filed for permission to launch active, non-transparent ETFs.

Vanguard plans to launch the Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund and its ETF Shares by the end of the second quarter.

LoCorr [profile] plans to launch a long/short fund.

Deutsche Bank plans to launch the db X-trackers Harvest CSI 300 Index ETF.

Deutsche Bank also plans to launch the passively-managed db-X Regulated Utilities Index Fund.

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Marriages

On February 8 Drexel Hamilton Mutual Funds [profile] revealed that last month the Ameristock Fund [profile] merged into the Drexel Hamilton Centre American Equity Fund. Drexel first filed for the planned merger in October. The Ameristock Fund was Alameda, California-based Ameristock's only '40 Act strategy.

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Plastic Surgery

On February 7, ProShares [profile] rebranded its ProShares Credit Suisse 130/30 ETF under a new moniker, the ProShares Large Cap Core Plus ETF, and cut its expense ratio to 45 basis points, a 50-bps drop.

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Brain Surgery

Morningstar reports that Don San Jose stepped up as lead PM of the five-star, $2.6-billion J.P. Morgan Small Cap Equity Fund [profile]. San Jose, who has worked with the fund as an analyst and then a coPM since 2004, succeeds star PM Glenn Gawronski, who on February 4 started a leave of absence of undisclosed length. Growth and small cap equities chief investment officer Chris Jones joins San Jose as coPM of the fund.

Morningstar reports that OppenheimerFunds [profile] added its own Heman Baijal as co-PM of the four-star, neutral-rated, $12.9-billion Oppenheimer International Bond Fund, alongside lead PM Sara Zervos and co-PM Art Steinmetz. Baijal has managed the fund's developed-markets sleeve since joining OpFunds in 2011.

Morningstar reports that OpFunds replaced Oppenheimer Global Strategic Income Fund co-PM Joseph Welsh with bank-loan and high-yield team member Jack Brown. The fund boasts $9.2 billion in assets, as well as three stars and a neutral rating from M*. Welsh will continue to lead that same team and PM another OpFunds offering.

Morningstar reports that Loomis Sayles [profile] named company veteran Brian Kennedy as co-PM on its Loomis Sayles Investment Grade Bond Fund and its four-star, $774.3-million Loomis Sayles Investment Grade Fixed Income Fund. Loomis also reportedly added its own Todd Vandam to the U.S. high yield PM team alongside Elaine Stokes and Matt Eagan, without officially naming Vandam a PM.

American Century Investments has hired Edward Boyle as vice president and co-PM of Non-U.S. Fixed Income (International Bond) and Global Fixed Income (Global Bond) strategies.

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Wants to Be Alone

Fairholme Funds [profile] and its series, the Fairholme Fund, the Fairholme Focused Income Fund, and the Fairholme Allocation Fund, will no longer accept new investors after February 28, 2013.

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