Janus Shares Fall as Fund Investors Retreat

The stock of Janus Capital Group fell Monday on news that investors, mindful of the mutual fund trading scandal, yanked $2 billion from Janus funds in February.

Furthermore, the company warned that institutional clients were expected to withdraw an additional $4.5 billion of assets during the next three months.

The expected net redemptions are delayed results of year-end reviews conducted by some institutional clients, which have subsequently notified Janus they would yank money from the company.

Shares of the Denver-based company fell 78 cents to $16.92 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Allegations of improper fund trading arrangements have hurt Janus’ fund sales more than those of some other fund companies also under regulatory scrutiny, coming on the heels of a prolonged slump in its fund performance.

“These outflows are beyond what we had forecast, as are recent money market outflows,” said Guy Moszkowski, a Merrill Lynch analyst, in a research report.

Janus came under scrutiny in the fall when New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer announced a settlement with the Canary Capital hedge fund. Spitzer said Janus was one of several fund groups that allowed market timing -- frequent trades that can hurt profits for long-term shareholders -- even though its policies discouraged it.