Cullen Launches Small-Cap Value Fund

Cullen Capital Management has launched the Cullen Small Cap Value Fund.

An announcement said the fund’s objective is long-term capital appreciation. The Cullen Small Cap Value Fund invests in companies with market capitalizations under $4 billion at the time of purchase, utilizing a value strategy that seeks out companies that are attractively priced on a valuation basis (i.e. Price/Earnings and Price/Book) with specific opportunities to increase earnings and cash flow and compound value over time.

The fund can invest up to 30% of the portfolio in companies headquartered outside of the United States, whether in the form of American Depository Receipts or local ordinary shares, according to the announcement.

The fund is now available via five share classes: a no-load Retail Class trading under ticker CUSRX, Class C shares available through financial advisers and intermediaries (CUSCX), Class I institutional shares (CUSIX), Class R1 retirement shares (CUSSX), and Class R2 retirement shares (CUSTX).


More information is available at www.cullenfunds.com.

Bond Funds Continue to Dominate Fund Flows

Strong long-term fund flows persisted in August, and the recent pattern of greater flows into bond funds continued as well, according to Strategic Insight (SI).

Investors deposited $43 billion into bond funds and $12 billion into equity/hybrid funds over the month. U.S. Equity funds saw $4 billion of inflows in August, while International/Global Equity posted $47 billion in inflows, according to data from SI, which is owned by Asset International, the parent company of PLANADVISER.

Taxable bond funds collectively garnered $33 billion, while flows into U.S. Government Bond funds rose from the prior month’s $3.5 billion, to $5 billion. Flows into Inflation-indexed Bond funds remained strong and steady at $2.6 billion, as did those into multi-sector Strategic Income funds, at $1.5 billion. Expectations of further U.S. dollar weakening aided in more than doubling flows into Global Bond funds, to $4.5 billion.

However, in a switch from the experience in the prior month, international equity funds lagged U.S. equity funds in August in terms of asset-weighted average returns and ended up drawing a smaller percentage of total equity fund flows (about 60% in August, down from about 75% in July).

Flows into International/Global Equity funds slowed somewhat compared to July, primarily as a result of investors pulling back from diversified Emerging Market and China Region funds following slowing growth, according to SI. August’s international/global equity fund flows came almost entirely within actively managed funds.

Money-market mutual fund assets declined by another $45 billion or so in August as a result of continued shifts to higher-yielding investments. Flows into both lifecycle strategy and other kinds of funds-of-funds remained steady, bringing in $5.3 billion collectively. Year-to-date, funds-of-funds have brought in a total of $27 billion in net new cash flows.

ETF/ETN flows moderated in August, to $7 billion, driven by Dedicated Short-Bias, Commodities, Small-cap Core, and Real Estate products. Year-to-date through August, ETFs/ETNs have collectively drawn an estimated $55 billion in net new flows.

The SI data showed that among the largest firms (more than $20 billion in long-term fund assets under management), those garnering the most long-term fund flows were Vanguard ($11 billion), PIMCO/Allianz Global ($8.7 billion), Fidelity ($3.4 billion), JPMorgan Funds ($2.6 billion), Barclays Global Investors ($2.2 billion), Franklin Templeton ($2 billion), DFA ($1.9 billion), SSgA ($1.7 billion), and BlackRock ($1.5 billion).

Among smaller-size managers of long-term funds, those that led in total long-term fund flows in August were TCW, Rafferty Asset Management, Manning & Napier, Lazard Asset Management, Rydex Investments, and InvescoPowerShares.


SI’s “Highlights of August 2009 Mutual Fund Industry Results” is available to registered users at www.sionline.com.

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