Mutual Fund Weekly News Roundup for October 17

For mutual fund investors, staying up to date on big industry news can be very important. Below are some of the biggest news pieces for the week ended October 17.

Janus Capital to Buy VelocityShares

Janus Capital Group (JNS) announced this week that it has agreed to acquire VelocityShares LLC for at least $30 million. The purchase will help the firm expand its exchange-traded products.

This purchase will also help the firm gain clients in the mutual fund and hedge fund industries.

According to the firm’s CEO Rick Weil, the purchase will "work with the growing segment of financial advisors and institutions focused on these instruments.”

Fidelity Investments Names Abigail Johnson as CEO

There will a new CEO change in the second largest mutual fund company, but leadership will remain in the family.

Abigail Johnson will replace her father, Edward C. Johnson, as CEO of Fidelity, but will continue to report to her elder as he will remain in the Chairman position.

Edward C. Johnson has served as CEO since 1977 when he took over his father’s position.

Abigail started at the company in 1988 where she was an equity research analyst.

Morningstar Releases September Asset Flow Data

On Tuesday, Morningstar released its estimates for mutual fund and ETF asset flows in September. According the the report, active taxable-bond funds saw the biggest outflow since June 13. This outflow totaled $18.7 billion and was accelerated by Bill Gross’s departure from PIMCO. The funds that he managed saw the biggest total outflows.

Morningstar also reported that active U.S. equity funds saw outflows for the seventh consecutive month, while passive U.S. equity funds saw inflows for the eighth consecutive month.

With passive funds, every type saw inflows except for commodity funds.