Asset management companies are experiencing inflows into managed accounts, including mutual funds and separate accounts, as investors seek to recoup some of the losses they incurred during the market meltdown.Bond funds had estimated inflows of $11.84 billion during the week ended Aug. 12, compared to $11.74 billion the previous week, according to the Investment Company Institute. Equity funds had estimated inflows of $2,79 billion for the week, down from $5.43 billion the previous week. Total mutual fund inflows were $15.6 billion for the week, down from $18.2 billion the previous week but up from the $12.6 billion two weeks ago.
“There are serious inflows going back into some parts of the market,” Dan Sondhelm, partner and vice president of SunStar Strategic, told Markets Media Thursday. “Conservative funds like balanced funds and bond funds are getting much of the flows. There is some investor confidence again as the markets have recovered slightly.”
In addition, fund firms are doing a much better job of hand holding their clients through a wide range of communications strategies. “They are helping them understand that history says markets go up long term,” said Sondheim. “If you leave the market, you miss out on the gains.”
Fidelity Investments' assets under administration increased to $2.9 trillion in the first seven months of the year, the company said Wednesday. Total assets under administration rose from $2.6 trillion at the start of the year, and for the year through June 30 Fidelity recorded $74 billion of net inflows into its products and those it sells for other companies. Fidelity said net investment inflows to its fund family in the half totaled $44.2 billion, which it said was an industry-leading sum. It said revenues were holding up better than the competition's.
Eaton Vance reported net inflows of $3.9 billion into long-term funds and separate accounts in the third quarter of fiscal 2009 compared to net inflows of $0.8 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2009 and $5.8 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2008.
Institutional and high-net-worth separate account net inflows in the third quarter of fiscal 2009 were $1.2 billion, consisting of gross inflows of $2.3 billion offset by $1.1 billion of outflows. The strong results in institutional and high-net-worth separate accounts in the quarter reflect the funding of new institutional mandates at Eaton Vance Management and net inflows into high-net-worth and institutional accounts at Parametric Portfolio Associates and Atlanta Capital Management.
Managed accounts are also gaining in the hedge fund arena, Rishi Narang, cofounder and head trader at Telesis Capital, told Markets Media Thursday.
“Funds-of-managed accounts (“FoMAs”)are similar to fund-of-funds in that they invest in outside hedge fund strategies, except that they make these investments through separate accounts instead of through hedge fund vehicles,” said Narang, whose firm has offered separate account since early 2005. “Such FoMAs are garnering assets from those investors interested in improved liquidity and transparency, and reduced risk of the kind of frauds that have plagued the hedge fund industry over the past few years.”
Narang added that other investors are turning to separate account platforms such as Lyxor and Alphametrix, to attempt to gain access to separate accounts directly.
“Either way, what the hedge fund industry put investors through in 2008 seems to have put separate accounts on the map to stay,” said Narang.
---
Posted on Aug. 20, 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment