Janus Cuts Jobs as Demand for Services Cools

Janus Capital Corp., which has had more than $2 billion of investor withdrawals from its retail funds this year, cut 546 jobs in its operations unit, its second round of staff reductions since February. Janus, last year’s best-selling mutual fund firm, said it is closing its 3-year-old Austin, Texas, telephone-call center and reducing staff in Denver. The cuts amount to 25% of the Denver-based firm’s work force and follow the elimination of 468 positions in February. Janus, a unit of Stilwell Financial Inc., had $206 billion in assets at the end of March, down from more than $315 billion in September. Stilwell shares fell $1.20 to close at $31.70 on the NYSE.