Week 3: 1/18/2010-1/22/2010
  by Jennifer Mann and Pamela Hill
The Delaware Cash Reserve fund further lowers its voluntary total annual operating expense limitation...A host of Columbia funds (along with the AQR Diversified Arbitrage fund) eliminate their redemption fees...Eaton Vance and ALPS Advisors propose funds investing in commodities...Alger closes the Alger Small Cap Growth and Alger Small Cap Growth Institutional funds to new investors and Royce closes the Royce Micro-Cap and Royce Premier funds to new investors...Two Delaware funds focusing on small cap companies will now include mid-cap companies in their strategies, and the Fidelity PAS Small Cap Fund of Funds will join this trend by becoming the Fidelity PAS Small-Mid Cap Fund of Funds in May...Neuberger Berman Management joins Thompson Siegel and Walmsley, Walthausen & Company, and Riverbridge Partners on the sub-advisory team of the Dreyfus Select Managers Small Cap Value fund...Joseph Tse replaces Wilson Wong as the portfolio manager of the Fidelity China Region fund, and Colin Chickles replaces Kevin Chang as the portfolio manager of the Fidelity Advisor Emerging Asia fund (Fidelity also makes other portfolio management changes this week)...ALPS Advisors' Jefferies | TR/J CRB Wildcatters Exploration & Production Equity ETF is currently being offered for sale...   MORE>>


Week 2: 1/11/2010-1/15/2010
  by Jennifer Mann and Pamela Hill
Vanguard Windsor II fund has added Sanders Capital to the fund’s advisory team with Lewis A. Sanders and John P. Mahedy managing approximately 8.5% of the fund's assets...Epoch Investment Partners joined Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Company and OFI Institutional Asset Management on the sub-advisory team of the USAA Income Stock fund...Certain Schwab ETFs terminated their distribution and shareholder services (12b-1) plans...Lord Abbett Short Duration Income fund makes plans to modify its 12b-1 fee for Class C (changing the fee to a blended rate based on the length of time the shares are held)...DWS Strategic High Yield Tax-Free fund introduces a new voluntary cap for Institutional Class shares in addition to an existing contractual cap...DoubleLine Capital LP (founded by Jeffrey E. Gundlach, formerly of TCW) registers three funds...Invesco PowerShares files ten small cap sector ETFs...Matthew H. Kamm joins the management teams of several Artisan funds (including the Artisan Mid Cap fund with over $4 billion in assets)...Pending shareholder approval, Evergreen funds will reorganize into existing or newly created Wells Fargo Advantage funds, Morgan Stanley Institutional funds will reorganize into newly organized funds advised by an affiliate of Invesco Limited, and Van Kampen funds will reorganize into existing or newly formed funds advised by an affiliate of Invesco Limited...   MORE>>


Week 1: 1/04/2010-1/08/2010
  by Jennifer Mann and Pamela Hill
Certain John Hancock funds have agreed to a contractual advisory waiver of 0.01% of that portion of the aggregate net assets of all the participating funds that exceeds $85 billion (on an annualized basis)...The JHF II Lifestyle series (sub-advised by MFC Global USA) replaced portfolio managers Steve Orlich and Scott Warlow with Bruce Speca, Bob Boyda, and Steve Medina, and Deutsche Investment Management Americas commenced providing consulting services directly to those John Hancock funds...The management team of the American Funds' Intermediate Bond Fund of America replaced Thomas H. Hogh with Mark A. Brett, and Mark R. MacDonald is replaced by Fergus N. MacDonald and Wesley K.-S. Phoa on the management team of the American Funds' U.S. Government Securities fund...The BlackRock iShares 10+ yr Government/Credit Bond ETF announces that it may now invest in taxable securities issued by states, municipalities and other political subdivisions, agencies, authorities and instrumentalities of states and multi-state agencies or authorities, and that the municipal securities which it may purchase include general obligation bonds and limited obligation bonds (or revenue bonds), including industrial development bonds issued pursuant to former U.S. federal tax law...Invesco Global Asset Management (N.A.), Inc. merged into Invesco Institutional (N.A.), Inc. (changing its name to Invesco Advisers) as part of an internal reorganization...The Wells Fargo Advantage Small Cap Value fund re-opens Classes A, C, Investor, and Institutional shares to new investors...F. William McNabb III has been elected Chairman of the Board of Vanguard and of each of the Vanguard funds (John J. Brennan retired as Chairman of the Board and trustee of Vanguard and of each of the funds in accordance with a long-standing transition plan, and Charles D. Ellis retired as director of Vanguard and trustee of each of the funds)...The first week of the year saw the following funds registered: American Century Strategic Inflation Opportunities fund, Keeley Alternative Value fund, Javelin Investment Management's JETS Contrarian Opportunities Index ETF, and Calamos Discovery Growth fund...   MORE>>