Connie Bugbee has retired from her position as managing editor of iMoneyNet.com after a 29-year career of reporting, editing and producing data on money market funds for analysts, investors, Wall Street and the financial press, and managing a mutual fund trading desk.
One of her responsibilities at the Westborough, Mass.-based company was the Money Fund Report, a weekly industry newsletter that has been published since 1975 and is widely used in the municipal market.
It tracks more than 1,600 U.S. tax-exempt and taxable money market funds using criteria that includes portfolio composition, fund flows, performance, assets, average maturities and yields.
Mike Krasner, who has served as an editor of the report since 2001, will succeed Bugbee, iMoneyNet officially announced in a press release on Monday.
Like Bugbee, Krasner will lead iMoneyNet’s editorial team in producing “relevant, compelling content” about money market mutual funds for institutional and retail clients worldwide, according to the announcement.
“We plan to fine-tune all of our online and print offerings and use public appearances, the Internet and social media to reinforce iMoneyNet’s standing as the preeminent keeper of all statistics that are vital for money fund providers and their investors,” Krasner said in the release.
In one of his first appearances at the helm of iMoneyNet, Krasner will network with many of the money fund industry’s key leaders and participants at the 16th annual Money Fund Forum, scheduled to take place Sept. 27 and 28 in New York City. It is co-sponsoring the event with its sister company, the Institute for International Research.
Krasner joined the company as a public relations manager in February 1993, and later managed its banking data division, which subsequently merged into Calabasas, Calif.-based Informa Research Services.
Prior to iMoneyNet, Krasner was a self-syndicated newspaper columnist and a public relations manager for a cable news channel. He has also held news management and reporting jobs at several television and radio stations.
Krasner is a graduate of Syracuse University with a degree in journalism and economics.
Bugbee officially retired Aug. 13. She spent the last four years of her career as managing editor, responsible for all iMoneyNet publications and the development of special reports.
She held various positions at iMoneyNet, including statistician, reporter, and assistant editor before being named managing editor in 2006.
From her home in Holliston, Mass., Bugbee said in an interview Tuesday that she’s bittersweet about her retirement, but was pleased that Krasner is now at the helm.
“I worked with a terrific cast of characters over the years, but after a while you have to realize when it’s time to get out,” she explained, adding that Krasner was a natural choice for the position because he learned the ropes working alongside her for many years.
Bugbee began her career in 1981 at the Donoghue Organization as editor of Donoghue’s Money Fund Report and Donoghue’s Mutual Funds Almanac when money fund interest rates were as high as 18%.
Reflecting on her long career, she said she has seen the industry come full circle, from its highs down to 0.04% in the week ending Aug. 23.
She expects money funds will continue to be an important asset class for retail investors who want to park cash in a short-term vehicle, and for institutional accounts that need to keep a percentage of their assets highly liquid.
“They serve such a good purpose,” Bugbee said. “I don’t think we’ll see these rates forever.”
In 1987, when the Donoghue Organization was acquired by IBC Group PLC and was renamed IBC Holdings U.S. Inc., Bugbee became senior vice president of operations and trading at W.E. Donoghue & Co.
IBC Holdings changed its name to IBC/Donoghue in 1992, then to IBC Financial Data in 1996. A year later, Bugbee left her position as senior vice president of trading and returned to IBC. The company officially became iMoneyNet after the 2000 merger of its money fund information division, IBC Financial, and its bank information division, formerly the Bradshaw Financial Network.
A graduate of Clark University in Worcester, Mass, Bugbee holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and NASD Series 2 and Series 65 licenses.
She said no longer having to set her alarm clock is the best perk about retirement. She is also excited to have more time to spend with her family, including her four children and nine grandchildren. On Tuesday, she was departing for a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate her 50th wedding anniversary, followed by a week-long tour of New Mexico.
Prior to her financial career, Bugbee was a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher from 1975 to 1981 in her hometown of Holliston, Ma., where she was also active in Girl Scouts and religious education.
iMoneyNet , which is a subsidiary of Informa Financial Information Inc., also publishes money fund products that are delivered electronically or in hard-copy form.
They include Money Fund Analyzer, Offshore Money Fund Analyzer, Money Fund Monitor, Offshore Money Fund Report Daily, Money Market Insight, Rated Money Fund Report, Money Fund Expense Report, Offshore Money Fund Report, IMMFA Money Fund Report, Enhanced Cash Report, and Cash Manager Report.
The company also provides customized comparative data to client portfolio managers, marketers and analysts for fund performance, assets, expenses and portfolio composition. Its publications include iMoneyNet Money Fund Averages — short-term cash benchmarks widely-used used by financial institutions.
