Round two of the Lump Of Coal Awards, geared in part toward exchange traded fund (ETF) providers and industry insiders is out. Last week, Chuck Jaffe for MarketWatch mentioned the first 10 awards, and now he hands out the last of the coal:
- Managers of the Blue Funds – those funds that encourage Democrats to support companies that give and act "blue" – for missing more than 300 corporate elections. For a fund that is all about the people’s vote, missed proxies are a big deal.
- Mutual Fund directors for putting their mouth where their money isn’t. Three-quarters of trustees said funds should be required to tell investors what their fees are in dollars instead of percentages. Yet, less than three-quarters of all funds have that information on their statements.
- Fidelity Investments for giving investors no say, because they might not like what they hear from them. It made a major change in a fund, then said the alterations weren’t big enough to warrant notifying investors or letting them vote.
- Every fund firm that released a real estate fund this year for forgetting one of the biggest lessons of the Bear market from 2000-2002. In the last 12 months, 37 real estate funds were launched — just in time to take in some big losses.
- UBS Absolute Return, Fidelity Inflation-Protected Bond and Fidelity Ultra-Short fund for forgetting that what is in a funds name should also be in the fund. The UBS fund, for example, stated an objective of "a positive return in any market environment." In the current environment, the fund is down 6.5% year to date.
- Janus Capital Group for ads and actions that left consumers wondering about the future. Some talent has left the company, and shareholders aren’t getting much in the way of comfort.
- Jim Kelsoe, manager of Regions Morgan Keegan Select Intermediate Bond fund and Select High Income Fund – The Lump Of Coal (Mis) Manager of the Year for having huge exposure to subprime paper.
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