Strategic Insight Highlights Recent Mutual Fund Changes

Investment Strategy Changes:

• Certain Franklin Mutual funds attempted to hedge against currency risks using currency futures contracts (including currency index futures contracts).
• Invesco AIM Charter fund updated its investment selection process.
• DWS RREEF Global Real Estate Securities and the JPMorgan Tax Aware Real Return funds change their classification from non-diversified to diversified.
• The RidgeWorth Mid-Cap Value Equity fund modified its definition of mid-cap companies.
• Adding to their lists of underlying funds in which they may invest: The Schwab Target funds (the Schwab Laudus Growth Investors U.S. Large Cap Growth fund was added as an underlying fund); Columbia Lifegoal funds (the Columbia U.S. Treasury Index fund was added as an underlying fund, and a government and corporate debt securities asset allocation has been added to the Columbia LifeGoal Growth fund); SEI Asset Allocation Trust funds (the linked funds all add the SIMT Real Return as an underlying fund, and certain funds also add the SIMT U.S. Fixed Income fund).

New Funds:

• PIMCO has registered seven exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
• Oppenheimer and John Hancock each filed two bond funds.
• BlackRock proposes a closed-end fund investing in assets eligible for purchase under the PPIP (Public-Private Investment Program for legacy securities established by the United States Department of the Treasury).

Portfolio Management Changes:

• Alfred F. Alley III replaced Peter S. Joo on the management team of the Columbia Small Cap Index, Columbia Mid Cap Index, and Columbia Large Cap Index funds.
• The ING International Value fund filed that effective April 30, 2009, Jeffrey Germain joined its management team.
• Duane F. Kelly will be primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Vanguard STAR fund.
• Thomas J. Durante joined Karen Q. Wong and Richard Brown in managing four Vantagepoint funds.

Pricing:

• The Dreyfus Core Equity, Dreyfus Tax Managed Growth, Dreyfus Appreciation, and Dreyfus Worldwide Growth funds will now pay a sub-advisory fee at the annual rate of 0.2175% and the Dreyfus Appreciation fund will modify its advisory fee from a breakpoint schedule to a flat fee of 0.3325%.
• The JPMorgan Mid Cap Growth, JPMorgan Mid Cap Value, and the Vista Listed Private Equity Plus funds will modify contractual expense caps, and the Dreyfus BNY Mellon funds will offer Class M shares to certain investment advisory firms on behalf of their high-net-worth and related clients subject to a minimum initial investment requirement of $1 million.

Relationship Changes:

• The Vanguard Group will now serve as adviser to the Vanguard STAR fund for the limited purpose of investing the fund's cash in futures.
• Both Invesco AIM Capital Management and Dimensional Fund Advisors will sub-advise the John Hancock Funds II Small Cap Opportunities fund.
• BlackRock Investment Management and BAMCO will no longer sub-advise the SunAmerica Focused Growth and Income and the SunAmerica Focused Small Cap Growth funds, respectively (pending shareholder approval of certain previously announced fund reorganizations).

More information is available here.