MutualFundWire.com
The insiders' edge for 40 Act industry executives!
an InvestmentWires' Publication
an InvestmentWires' Publication
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MutualFundWire.com
The insiders' edge for 40 Act industry executives!
an InvestmentWires' Publication |
|
Monday, January 22, 2001 January 22, 2001 US Fund Fees are a Bargain From Wall Street Journal U.S. fund firms are exporting everything about their business but their relatively low and full-disclosed fees, reports the Journal. The paper singles out Fidelity European Opportunities Fund, which carries expenses of 170 basis points in Europe compared to 107 in the U.S. Meanwhile, Janus International charges investors in Europe 248 basis points on the Dublin-based Global Life Sciences Fund compared to 111 for the American version. London-based Fitzrovia International, estimates that European versions of funds charge an average of one-third more than in the United States. European funds charge an average of 146 bps, Hong Kong funds 141 bps and U.S. funds only 98 bps. More on SECs' After-Tax Return Regs From Wall Street Journal I The paper reports the Securities and Exchange Commission newly adopted new rules requiring mutual funds to disclose the impact of income taxes on a fund's performance. The new rule will be effective April 16 and will require that stock and bond funds must include after-tax results for the past one-, five- and 10-year periods in the fund's prospectus. Money-market funds won't be subject to the rule. After-tax returns will be based on the highest federal income-tax rate, currently 39.6 percent. Funds Still Buy in Venture Rounds From Boston Globe The tech wreck has not cooled fund managers' interest in investing in venture, reports the Globe. Recently, OppenheimerFunds, Dreyfus and Scudder all invested in a $111 million round in AXSUN Technologies. Putnam, American Express and Seligman are part of a $45 million third round to be announced today by MarketSoft Corp. (Lexington, Massachusetts). UK Actuaries Warn on Move to DC From Singapore Straights Times Remember the fight that pension actuaries waged against defined contribution plans in the United States? It seems that the battleground has now moved overseas. People are taking on higher risks, contends the paper, and most of them may not even know it. The article is based on an interview with Peter Clark, president of Britain's Institute of Actuaries. Clark's concern is that companies in Britain are "moving increasingly from defined benefit pension plans to defined contribution plans." Sounds familiar. "Imagine just before the worker retires the stock market plunges 30 per cent," Clark is quoted as saying. This was a familiar refrain in the U.S. in the early Nineties. Turner Funds' Bob Turner From Barron's Turner funds, one of the darling fund firms of the Tech craze, is profiled in this week's Barron's. The author reports that Bob Turner "thought he'd seen it all -- until last year's stock market swoon turned what was shaping up to be a banner year into a tech-fund manager's nightmare." Although Turner's top fund lost 32 percent in 2000, the article says he is pointing to relative outperformance. That line of reasoning may not keep investors on board though. The article also shows Turner putting on a brave face: "most of our clients have an institutional focus and understand that you can't have gains without risk. As long as we beat the market handily on the way up and hold our own when it goes down relative to benchmarks, we're okay." Printed from: MFWire.com/story.asp?s=26325 Copyright 2001, InvestmentWires, Inc. All Rights Reserved |