Third quarter mutual fund roundup: Buy, buy, buy!

Withdrawals from mutual funds that invest in emerging markets soared in the third quarter as investors sought refuge in safer assets. But amid the market mayhem, many equity fund managers saw reason to be optimistic. Their message: Buy, buy, buy! Investors pulled $24 billion from emerging market equity funds and $11 billion from bond funds in the three months from July through September as financial storm clouds continued to gather, according to EPFR Global, a group in Boston that tracks fund flows. Some of these markets registered their worst declines ever during the quarter. September marked the fourth consecutive month of decline in the Russian stock market, the second-longest period of decline in its 13-year history, excluding the aftermath of the 1998 debt default. The benchmark RTS index lost 26 percent in September and... [read full story]