Yet another name change is approaching in money fund land. A statement from the Highland Funds, which formerly were the GE Funds, says, "On January 9th, 2012, Highland Funds will become Pyxis Capital [pronounced PIK'-siss], a registered investment advisor serving financial advisors, institutions and individual investors seeking registered alternative investment solutions. The investment advisors and sub-advisors for all the Highland Family of Funds will not change. While the fund names will change to adopt the Pyxis identity, tickers will remain the same." Currently, our MFI XLS tracks the $67 million Highland Money Market II A (HAHXX) and the $8 million Highland Money Market II Inst (HIHXX). Both will become the Pyxis Money Market Fund II. (Look for more Fund Changes info in the pending January issue of Money Fund Intelligence, which should be delivered Monday morning.)
The full Dec. 13 PDF explains, "Highland Funds Asset Management, L.P. today announced that it will spin-off from Highland Capital Management, L.P..... Highland Funds will officially shift to Dallas-based Pyxis Capital on January 9, 2012, and all current registered investment company portfolio managers employed by Highland Capital and other related operations and management personnel will move to the new entity.... While fund names will change to adopt the Pyxis brand, tickers will remain unchanged. The Pyxis fund platform, Pyxis Funds, will include 20 funds comprising a diverse set of investment strategies -- from broad based equity and fixed income investments to alternative strategies including long/short and trend following."
Joe Dougherty, President, says, "For some time now, we have been operating our registered funds business independently from Highland Capital's institutional platform, so this spin-off and rebranding is a natural evolution of that process. Our full suite of diverse and alternative fund offerings is designed to help meet investors' needs as they continually look to diversify and optimize their portfolios."
In other news, BlackRock said in a press release, "BlackRock, Inc. today announced that it will report fourth quarter and full year 2011 earnings results prior to the opening of the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, January 19, 2012. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Laurence D. Fink, and Chief Financial Officer, Ann Marie Petach, will host a teleconference call for investors and analysts at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern Time). BlackRock's earnings release will be available in the investor relations section of the Company's website, http://www.blackrock.com, before the teleconference call begins. Members of the public who are interested in participating in the teleconference should dial, from the United States, (800) 374-0176, or from outside the United States, (706) 679-4634, shortly before 9:00 a.m. and reference the BlackRock Conference Call (ID Number 39409145)."
Federated also announced dates for its Q4 earnings. The company said, "Federated Investors, Inc., one of the nation's largest investment managers, will report financial and operating results for the quarter and year-ended Dec. 31, 2011 after the market closes on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. A conference call for investors and analysts will be held at 9 a.m. Eastern on Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. President and CEO J. Christopher Donahue and CFO Thomas R. Donahue will host the call. Investors interested in listening to the teleconference should dial 877-407-0782 (domestic) or 201-689-8567 (international) or visit FederatedInvestors.com for real-time Internet access. To listen via the Internet, go to the About Federated section of the website at least 15 minutes prior to register." (Note that Federated's Chris Donahue is also scheduled to keynote Crane's Money Fund Symposium in Pittsburgh later this year, June 20, 2012.)
Finally, the Wells Fargo Advantage Funds have scheduled a "Money Market Update Call" for Wednesday, January 25, 2012, at 2:00 p.m. ET (Call-in number: 1-866-394-0583 Conference ID: 40566541). The announcement says, "Wells Fargo Advantage Funds offers a comprehensive roster of Rule 2a-7 money market funds to meet the varying liquidity management needs of investors. For more than two decades, we have been providing comprehensive services to meet our clients' cash management needs, and in an ever changing market environment, these services take on greater value. David Sylvester, manager of our money market funds since 1987 and Matthew Grimes, Managing Director for Taxable Money Market Credit Research will be on hand to provide a current market perspective and will discuss how our seasoned portfolio management team manages our funds in the current market environment."
