Investing October 30, 2006

Mutual Funds Continue Growth in September

October 30, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Assets of US mutual funds increased by $137.5 billion, or 1.4%, to $9.722 trillion in September, according to data from the Investment Company Institute (ICI).
Reported by

The growth was modest compared to the $206.8 billion increase in August (See Equity Funds’ Asset Inflow Takes a Leap in August ). Long-term funds – stock, bond, and hybrid funds – had a net inflow of $11.71 billion in September, versus an inflow of $11.93 billion in August, ICI data showed.

Stock funds posted an inflow of $6.47 billion in September, compared with an inflow of $5.06 billion in August. World equity funds (US funds that invest primarily overseas) posted an inflow of $9.43 billion in September, while funds that invest primarily in the US had an outflow of $2.97 billion for the month.

Get more!  Sign up for PLANSPONSOR newsletters.

Bond funds had an inflow of $4.60 billion in September, compared with an inflow of $6.64 billion in August. The bulk of the inflow is attributable to taxable bond funds which had an inflow of $3.24 billion in September, versus an inflow of $5.20 billion in August. Municipal bond funds had an inflow of $1.37 billion in September, compared with an inflow of $1.44 million in August.

Money market funds recorded an inflow of $15.47 billion in September – well below the inflow of $42.87 billion in August. Funds offered primarily to institutions had an inflow of $10.29 billion, while funds offered primarily to individuals had an inflow of $5.18 billion.

Hybrid funds posted an inflow of $640 million in September, compared with an inflow of $236 million in August.

More ICI statistics can be viewed here .

Benefits October 27, 2006

Poll: 35% Enrolled in Retirement Savings Program

October 27, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - More than half of US adults surveyed (57%) say they invest in long-term financial service investment products including 35% who participated in a 401(k), 403(b) or a similar retirement savings plan and 30% who had a Roth or regular IRA.
Reported by

Those were among the findings of a recent Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Personal-Finance Poll, according to a news release.

Moving on to a key topic for many institutional and other investors, about one-third (36%) say that poor corporate governance had led them to reduce or divest holdings in a company, slightly up from last year (30%). About half of investors (49%) agree that they can trust companies to provide complete and accurate financial information on which they can make investment decisions, according to the poll.

Get more!  Sign up for PLANSPONSOR newsletters.

.

Almost half of US adult investors (49%) say that boards of directors are most responsible for corporate governance, an increase from 45% in 2005. Twenty-one percent of investors consider chief executive officers to be the most responsible, while 19% say senior management is most responsible.

About half of investors agree that boards of directors do a good job at overseeing the companies they govern (55%) and at managing executive compensation (45%). Most investors say that the chairman of the board title should go to an independent director (39%) or the chief executive officer (25%), while a fair amount say they do not know (28%).

Also, when asked about what they knew or may have heard about the provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley, including its restrictions and penalties for misinterpretation or misuse of company financial information, 32% say the law has been effective at improving the transparency of financial information at public companies, while about one-quarter (24%) say that it has not worked. Twenty-one percent say that Sarbanes-Oxley has been effective at improving boards of directors’ ability to manage executive compensation and 35% say it has not been effective.

The survey was conducted online within the United States between September 19 to 21, 2006 among 2,345 adults (aged 18 and over), 1,345 of whom invest in long-term financial service investment products.

«