Streiff is
the former founder and president of Matrix Communications Technologies and
spent 12 years as a financial adviser at Wheat First Butcher Singer. He
currently serves on the board of trustees for the Speedway Children’s
Charities.
He
graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a degree in
economics.
“Over the
last year, we have been executing a strategic plan to widen our scope of
services in the retirement arena and increase market share,” said Kent Buckles,
senior vice president and division manager of the Retirement Strategies Group
at Reliance Trust, principal trust subsidiary of Atlanta-based Reliance
Financial Corporation. “Investing in the right people to help us execute this
plan is crucial and we believe Danny, with his industry experience, is a
perfect fit.”
By using this site you agree to our network wide Privacy Policy.
December marked the second
consecutive month of net outflows from long-term mutual funds, following $3
billion in net outflows in November, according to Strategic Insight, an Asset
International company.
As a result, long-term mutual funds
saw net inflows for the full-year 2011 of just $65 billion (excluding ETFs and
VA funds).
“Because many investors engage in
year-end portfolio adjustments and tax-related moves, December is a difficult
month from which to draw firm conclusions,” said Avi Nachmany, SI’s director of
research. “However, it is clear that investor sentiment remains cautious.
Although the S&P 500 rose 1% in December, fund shareholders are still
suffering from volatility fatigue following the ups and downs of the second
half of 2011. Portfolio rebalancing may result in reduced outflows from U.S.
equity funds in January, especially if the U.S. stock market continues its 2012
rise.”
Equity mutual funds saw accelerated
redemptions in December compared with November. Net outflows from U.S. equity
funds went from $11 billion in November to $24 billion in December, and net
outflows from international and global equity funds went from $3 billion in
November to $11 billion in December. Flows to international equity funds were
hurt by investors’ reduced appetite for risk, as well as the negative impact of
U.S. dollar appreciation (in 2011, the average international stock fund lost
12%, while the average U.S. equity fund was about flat).
Among the few categories of equity
funds to post positive flows in December, the leaders were utility funds,
long/short funds and multialternative funds. “While there is a lack of
enthusiasm for U.S. equity funds, investors continue to seek out solutions
aimed at lessening portfolio volatility and reducing correlation,” said Nachmany.
For 2011, equity funds saw net outflows of $51 billion, with $85 billion of
net outflows from U.S. equity funds partly offset by $34 billion in net inflows
from international equity funds.
Bond funds saw net inflows of $13 billion in December, including $8 billion
to taxable bond funds and $5 billion to muni bond funds. Volatility fatigue
also affected bond funds. Investors continued to see bond funds as a lower-risk
means to participate in financial markets, as well as a source of income in an extremely-low-yield
environment. In December, bond fund flows were led by intermediate-term,
high-yield and short-term muni funds. Muni bond funds have been enjoying a
revival of demand as fears of widespread defaults have faded.
For the full year 2011, bond funds saw $116 billion in net inflows,
including $129 billion in net inflows to taxable bond funds and $13 billion in
net outflows from muni bond funds.
Money-market funds saw net inflows of $39 billion in December, as retail
investors continued to turn to money funds as a safety net, even as
institutional money market funds continued to see sluggish demand. December was
the second consecutive month of positive net flows to money funds, following
$42 billion of net inflows in November. For the full year 2011, money market
funds saw aggregate net outflows of $135 billion due to near-zero yields.
Separately, SI said U.S. Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) in December
experienced $16 billion in net inflows. Leading the way in net inflows were
large-cap blend, large-cap growth and large-cap value ETFs, with combined net
flows of $10.5 billion in December. The biggest ETF, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF,
took in $4.9 billion in net inflows in December. Precious metals ETFs saw net
outflows in December.
For full-year 2011, ETFs (including ETNs) saw net inflows of $115 billion.
That followed net inflows of $111 billion in 2010 and marked the fifth
consecutive year that U.S. ETFs took in $100 billion or more in net inflows. At
the end of 2011, U.S. ETF assets stood at $1.06 trillion, which was up from
$1.006 trillion at the end of 2010.