The Markets July 17, 2014

June Sees Expanded Allocations to International Funds

Long-term funds netted $47 billion in June, increasing the year-to-date inflows to $266 billion, according to Strategic Insight (SI).
Reported by

SI, an Asset International company, also finds that for June, U.S. Equity ($19.0 billion) led inflows among fund types on strong aggregate demand for exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and actively managed objective-specific demand for Natural Resources ($2.2 billion) and Income-Mixed ($1.4 billion).

International Equity ($17.6 billion) saw another month of consistent net intake as allocations to International Total Return ($2.5 billion) and International Emerging Market Equity ($2.1 billion) expanded.

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Demand for taxable bond funds ($7.9 billion) were led by active objectives Corporate Bond General ($7.1 billion) and Global Bond General ($2.7 billion) in June. Tax-free bonds also experienced $2.4 billion of net investments during the month.

Equity funds returned strong asset-weighted one-month returns despite periods of volatility in June, with U.S. Equity returning 2.7% on the period and International Equity returning 1.6%. Sovereign debt objectives led returns among taxable bond funds.

More information about Strategic Insight can be found at http://www.sionline.com. Subscriber’s may view SI’s Monthly Fund Industry Review here.

Diversions July 17, 2014

Baseball Fanatics Strive to See Every Game

Really need to see that game? Tips from fanatic fans include canceling dates and ordering tickets online during church.
Reported by

Memorizing schedules and sneaking an inning or two in church are just some lengths to which fans go to catch their favorite nine and America’s summer pastime, according to a survey from breakfast food giant Kellogg.

Individual survey respondents reported every “never miss a game” tactic, from ordering playoff tickets online while at church to attending a game while on a honeymoon. Nearly half of fans (47%) have their team’s schedule on hand at all times or know it well. Nearly three in 10 know their team’s schedule better than they know their own commitments over the next eight weeks.

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If money were no object, fans would want to attend 33 games in person a season. As it is, they average six. Time is usually no object: More than half of fans have traveled more than four hours to see their team play.

What obligations? Almost half (47%) canceled, missed or arrived late to a family event to watch their favorite team. A third canceled, missed or were late to work for the same reason.

Among other findings:

 

  • Nearly one third of fans would rearrange or cancel a date if it interfered with a big game;
  • More than half (53%) have gone out of their way to watch a favorite team’s game on vacation and 43% have watched at work;
  • If you’ve ever listened to your game through poor reception on the radio just to catch the action, you’re not alone: 38% of fans engage in this kind of “static cling”;
  • More than a third of fans under age 34 have petitioned a bartender or restaurant owner to see if they’ll play their teams’ games regularly; and
  • More than one in 10 fans went out of their way to watch a game while at a wedding.

 

The Battle Creek, Mich.-based company surveyed 1,000 fans nationwide in connection with Major League Baseball promotions and the “Never Miss a Game” contest to measure devotion to pro ball and to favorite teams.

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