Director of SEC’s Division of Investment Management discusses alternative mutual funds

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 15-18
Author(s):  
Richard F. Kerr
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Investment Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fund Industry ◽  
Mutual Fund Industry ◽  
Alternative Investment

Purpose – To alert participants in the mutual fund industry to regulatory developments in the alternative mutual fund space as articulated by the SEC’s Director of the Division of Investment Management. Design/methodology/approach – Reviews the Director’s discussion of the SEC’s concerns related to Valuation, Liquidity, Leverage and Disclosure resulting from the proliferation of alternative mutual funds. Additionally, summarizes the Director’s comments regarding Board oversight of alternative mutual funds. Findings – While the Director’s speech does not establish any new law or regulation, it is a practical summary of the SEC’s expectations for mutual fund complexes when implementing and operating mutual funds with alternative investment strategies that have historically been the province of private funds. Originality/value – Practical explanation from experienced financial institutions lawyers.

FINRA fines broker-dealer for failing to apply Class A sales charge waivers for certain eligible customers on its mutual fund platform

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 53-56
Author(s):  
Richard F. Kerr
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Supervisory System ◽  
Enforcement Action ◽  
Class A

Purpose – To review FINRA enforcement action taken against a broker-dealer over failure to waive mutual fund sales charges for certain eligible customers and failure to establish, maintain, and enforce a supervisory system and written procedures reasonably designed to ensure eligible accounts received sales charge waivers as set forth in the mutual funds’ prospectuses. Design/methodology/approach – Reviews and summarizes FINRA’s finding’s regarding the broker-dealer’s failure to apply applicable mutual fund sales charge waivers, deficiencies in the broker-dealer’s supervisory system and written procedures resulting in the failure, resulting violations of FINRA rules, the broker-dealer’s remedial efforts, and the sanctions imposed. Findings – This settlement provides an important reminder for FINRA member broker-dealers of the need to ensure that eligible investors receive applicable sales charger waivers or are placed in the appropriate share class, and to establish, maintain, and enforce a supervisory system and written procedures reasonably designed to ensure eligible accounts received sales charge waivers as set forth in the mutual funds’ prospectuses. Originality/value – Practical explanation from experienced financial institutions lawyers.

Do mutual fund ratings provide valuable information for retail investors?

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Oehler ◽  
Andreas Höfer ◽  
Matthias Horn ◽  
Stefan Wendt
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Monthly Basis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rating Agencies ◽  
Dynamic Investment ◽  
Retail Investors ◽  
Rating Changes

Purpose Retail investors use information provided by mutual fund rating agencies to make investment decisions. This paper aims to examine whether the ratings provide useful information to retail investors by analyzing the rating migration and closure risk of mutual funds that received Morningstar’s mutual fund ratings from 2005 to 2012. Design/methodology/approach The research design differentiates between buy-and-hold investment strategies and dynamic investment strategies. To assess the information content of mutual fund ratings for buy-and-hold investment strategies, the rating migration based on the first and the last mutual fund rating during two-, four-, six- and eight-year horizons is determined. With respect to dynamic investment strategies, the number of rating changes per fund on a monthly basis during these time horizons is calculated. Findings Mutual fund rating persistence is low or even inexistent, in particular, during longer time periods. Only for lower-rated funds, the rating appears to indicate higher risk of fund closure. In addition, mutual funds face a large number of up to 38 monthly rating changes in the eight-year window. Originality/value Mutual fund rating persistence has hardly been analyzed for funds offered to retail investors so far. This paper clearly points out that because of the extensive rating migration and the high number of monthly rating changes, retail investors barely benefit from using mutual fund ratings.

scholarly journals Effects of asymmetric information on market timing in the mutual fund industry

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 542-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Venessa S. Tchamyou ◽  
Simplice A. Asongu ◽  
Jacinta C. Nwachukwu
Keyword(s):  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Market Timing ◽  
Risk Exposure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Time Dynamic ◽  
Equity Funds ◽  
Fund Industry ◽  
Mutual Fund Industry

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of information asymmetry (between the realized return and the expected return) on market timing in the mutual fund industry. Design/methodology/approach For the purpose, the authors use a panel of 1,488 active open-end mutual funds for the period 2004-2013. The authors use fund-specific time-dynamic betas. The information asymmetry is measured as the standard deviation of idiosyncratic risk. The data set is decomposed into five market fundamentals in order to emphasis the policy implications of the findings with respect to: equity, fixed income, allocation, alternative, and tax-preferred mutual funds. The empirical evidence is based on endogeneity-robust difference and system generalized method of moments. Findings The following findings are established. First, the information asymmetry broadly follows the same trend as volatility, with a higher sensitivity to market risk exposure. Second, fund managers tend to raise (cutback) their risk exposure in time of high (low) market liquidity. Third, there is evidence of convergence in equity funds. The authors may, therefore, infer that equity funds with lower market risk exposure are catching-up with their counterparts with higher exposure to fluctuation in market conditions. Originality/value The paper complements the sparse literature on market timing in the mutual fund industry with time-dynamic betas, information asymmetry and an endogeneity-robust empirical approach.

SEC publishes guidance on mutual fund distribution and sub-accounting fees

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Adelfio ◽  
Paul J. Delligatti ◽  
Jason F. Monfort
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Investment Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Enforcement Action ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
Practical Guidance ◽  
Investment Advisers

Purpose To explain the guidance published on January 6, 2016 by the SEC’s Division of Investment Management containing its views and recommendations relating to mutual fund distribution and sub-accounting fees. Design/methodology/approach Explains the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations focus on “distribution in guise” payments, its 2013 “sweep exam,” an enforcement action against a fund’s adviser and affiliated distributor related to payments for distribution-related activities outside of a 12b-1 plan, lists SEC staff recommendations with respect to mutual fund distribution and sub-accounting fees, summarizes the SEC’s guidance on board oversight of sub-accounting fees, provides indicia that a payment may be for distribution-related activities, and points to the need for mutual funds to have policies and procedures designed to prevent violations of Section 12(b) and Rule 12b-1. Findings The guidance is an outgrowth of the staff’s observations from a three-year “distribution in guise” sweep exam of mutual fund complexes, investment advisers, broker-dealers and transfer agents conducted by the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations and other offices and divisions of the SEC to identify whether firms were using fund assets to directly or indirectly finance any activities primarily intended to result in the sale of fund shares outside of an approved Rule 12b-1 distribution plan. Originality/value Practical guidance from experienced financial services lawyers.

A Study on Investment Decision of Investors With Reference to Penetration of Mutual Funds in India

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ratish C Gupta ◽  
Dr. Manish Mittal
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Real Estate ◽  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Capital Markets ◽  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Investment Decision ◽  
Fund Industry ◽  
Mutual Fund Industry ◽  
The Impact

The Indian mutual fund industry is one of the fastest growing and most competitive segments of the financial sector. The extent of under-penetration in the market is a sore point with the financial services industry, with a large amount of savings being channelized into fixed deposits, gold and real estate rather than the capital markets. The mutual fund industry is yet to spread its reach beyond Tier I cities. The top fifteen cities contribute to 85% of the pie, with the remaining 15% distributed among other cities. The study seeks to determine the impact of decision making of investors on current situation of mutual fund industry.

scholarly journals Mutual Fund Performance and the Impact of Superannuation and Financial Regulation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Cooper ◽  
Russell Gregory-Allen
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Open Economy ◽  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Financial Regulation ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Small Open Economy ◽  
Fund Industry ◽  
Mutual Fund Industry ◽  
The Impact

Financial innovation such as a new superannuation scheme can allow for broader participation in retirement savings by individuals, but might also impact existing investments. On the other hand, mutual fund regulation involves a balancing act between protecting investors, and allowing fund managers to exercise their skills. Some recent changes in the fund environment of New Zealand allows an examination of the impact on performance from those changes in a small, open economy. Using a sample of New Zealand mutual funds, we compared performance before and after the introduction of two significant changes in the financial environment of New Zealand. In 2007, a state-sponsored investment scheme called KiwiSaver was introduced, providing significant incentives for more and more New Zealanders to save. Participation was substantial, and by 2015 KiwiSaver funds under management had exceeded traditional open-end funds. At the time of KiwiSaver’s introduction, mutual fund regulations was quite lax, particularly in the area of financial disclosure. However, in 2013 a new law was introduced, substantially increasing the disclosure requirements for those funds participating in the KiwiSaver scheme. First we examined, the impact on the New Zealand mutual fund industry upon the introduction of KiwiSaver, and then on the introduction of the increased KiwiSaver regulations, in order to determine if these harmed the overall New Zealand mutual fund industry. We found that the New Zealand mutual funds which focused on New Zealand or Australian equities experienced some negative performance after the introduction of KiwiSaver, but the impact on the overall industry was not significant. We also found that the increased regulations had some positive impact on performance, particularly for those funds emphasising global equities.  

scholarly journals FACTORS INFLUENCING THE INVESTORS TO INVEST IN MUTUAL FUNDS: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. 45-52
Author(s):  
Bishwajit Rout ◽  
Sangeeta Mohanty
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Exchange Traded Funds ◽  
Equity Fund ◽  
Index Funds ◽  
Money Market Funds ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Fund Industry ◽  
Mutual Fund Industry

Indian mutual fund industry started with traditional products like equity fund, debt fund and balanced fund and later significantly increased it’s product base. Today, the industry has introduced a wide range of products such as money market funds, sector specific funds, index funds, gilt funds, insurance linked funds, exchange traded funds, and marching towards reality funds. The different types of schemes offered by the Indian mutual fund industry provide several options of investment to common man. What is noteworthy is that bulk of the mobilization has been by the private sector mutual funds rather than bank sponsored mutual funds. Through this paper the author has attempted to focus on the the factors that motivate the investors to invest in mutual funds.

A Study on the Performance of Indian Mutual Funds in Recent Years

2021 ◽  
pp. 428-444
Author(s):  
Dipika Varshney ◽  
Sowjanya Heblikar ◽  
Sunitha B K
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Financial Industry ◽  
Indian Economy ◽  
Cause And Effect ◽  
Fund Industry ◽  
Mutual Fund Industry ◽  
And Performance

The Indian mutual fund industry is an integral part of the Indian financial industry. The mutual fund industry has a significant impact on the Indian economy. This study aims at understanding the growth and performance of mutual fund industry and understanding the cause and effect through empirical research. For this research, published papers have been studied and analysed to give a better understanding of the industry. This study records the performance of Indian mutual funds from the year 2015-2020. It analyses the performance of the debt, equity, and ETF mutual funds. The challenges are huge, but the investors have shown a matured behaviour. The 2020 pandemic has allowed investors to balance their portfolios by removing poor performing mutual fund holdings.

SEC issues guidance update regarding enhanced mutual fund disclosure

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 11-14
Author(s):  
Domenick Pugliese ◽  
Michael Rosella ◽  
David Hearth
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Securities And Exchange Commission ◽  
Investment Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
User Friendly

Purpose – To explain a guidance update recently issued by the USA Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Investment Management that furthers the SEC’s goal of clear and concise, user-friendly disclosure by focusing on certain specified requirements of Form N-1A and the rules under the Securities Act of 1933. Design/methodology/approach – Discusses five areas where the SEC staff had been providing significant numbers of comments related to mutual fund disclosure after the adoption of the amendments to Form N-1A in 2009 by summarizing the applicable instructions of Form N1-A and/or rule and the SEC staff’s observations with respect to such instruction or rule. Findings – Funds should ensure that during their next annual update they review their prospectus disclosure in light of this guidance update and make necessary changes so that the disclosure is clear and concise and not overly technical. Originality/value – A concise summary of the SEC’s guidance update from experienced investment management lawyers.

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