The Markets March 14, 2011

February Mutual Fund Flows Kept Pace with January

Flows into long-term mutual funds hit $27.9 billion in February, nearly matching January’s total of $29.8 billion, according to the Morningstar Direct Fund Flows Update.
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Taxable bond and U.S. stock remained the two most popular asset classes, taking in $11.9 billion and $10.1 billion, respectively. A Morningstar announcement said the combined inflows of $25.9 billion seen by U.S. stock funds in January and February is the most investors have added to the asset class during those same two months since they contributed $44.8 billion in 2004.   

In a break from 2010 trends among both U.S. stock and international-stock funds, large-cap categories saw greater inflows than their small-cap counterparts.    

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Municipal-bond funds were the only asset class to see outflows, but the pace of redemptions slowed to $4.4 billion following outflows of $12.5 billion in January.   

Credit-oriented taxable-bond categories remained popular. After collecting $5.6 billion in January, bank-loan funds added another $4.8 billion in February. The combined inflows of $10.4 billion during the first two months of 2011 is greater than the inflows recorded for the category during the same period in any prior year, according to the announcement.   

After outflows of more than $75.9 billion in January, money market funds reversed course with inflows of $16.7 billion during the month. 

Products March 14, 2011

Transamerica Enrollment Hits the Web

Transamerica Retirement Services unveiled a mobile application that it says allows employees to enroll in a retirement plan in as little as three minutes.
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Using the “TRS Mobile Enroller” application, employees can join their plan and begin saving for retirement during their enrollment meeting, further helping plan sponsors to increase enrollment rates.

“Transamerica is dedicated to harnessing today’s technology to help improve the financial well-being of our participants,” said Stig Nybo, president of Transamerica Retirement Services.. “Joining an employer-sponsored retirement plan is one of the most financially beneficial decisions an employee can make. Transamerica’s new mobile enrollment application has the advantage of making plan enrollment as simple and as fast as possible.”

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At Transamerica’s onsite enrollment meetings, Transamerica’s enrollment specialists provide employees access to an iPod touch pre-loaded with the TRS Mobile Enroller application. During enrollment, participants choose their contribution percentage and investment selection. Enrollees can choose “quick enrollment,” which automatically invests 100% of the contributions in the plan’s default fund, or “regular enrollment,” which allows the enrollee to allocate contribution percentages across the menu of investment choices offered by their plan.

Transamerica said enrollees can also choose to make catch-up contributions if they are age 50 or over. The enrollee then confirms his or her enrollment elections, at which time the information is securely uploaded to Transamerica’s server and the enrollment begins processing by the time they leave the meeting.

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