Fundline: New managers, fund openings, closings

• Your water bill may be rising, but water funds probably aren't keeping up
• Stocks of fund companies beat stock funds, soaring 18.9% this year
• You have until Oct. 15 to undo a Roth IRA conversion

Mutual fund investors have had a good year so far: The average stock fund has gained 14.2%. But your fund company has probably had a better year.

The Lipper Management Company Index, which measures the stock performance of the largest publicly traded mutual fund companies, has gained 18.9% this year. But some fund-company gains have been doozies:

* Franklin Resources, up 12.9% the third quarter and 31% this year.

* Federated Investors, down 2.5% for the quarter, but up 41.3% this year.

* Janus Capital, up 21.5% for the quarter, and 52.3% for the year.

Mutual fund companies are money machines in good markets. The 10 largest stock funds alone took in an estimated $1.2 billion in management fees the past 12 months -- and that's not including other fees, such as 12b-1 distribution charges.

And it's no wonder that mutual fund executives dot the Forbes magazine list of the wealthiest Americans. Abigail and Edward C. Johnson, the father and daughter Fidelity executives, are worth a combined $18.3 billion.

Charles and Rupert Johnson of Franklin Resources (no relation to the Fidelity Johnsons), are worth an estimated $7.9 billion combined.

And PIMCO bond guru Bill Gross tips the scales at $2.3 billion.

Water, water

If you've gotten your water bill recently, you may have noticed that the most liquid of all assets is getting far more expensive. According to a USA TODAY analysis, water bills in 100 major cities have soared an average 75% the past dozen years.

Fewer than a handful of mutual funds invest in water-related stocks. How have they done? Not too badly, but not better than the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index.

Funds that invest in the S&P 500 have gained 16.5% so far this year. How the water funds have fared:

* PowerShares Water Resource Portfolio (PHO), up 16.3%, according to Morningstar, the mutual fund trackers.

* PowerShares Global Water Portfolio (PIO),13.5%

* S&P Global Water Index (CGW), 16.3%

The laggard of the group, PowerShares Global Water, has 44% of its assets in Europe, which has hurt performance. Its cousin, PowerShares Water Resource, has less than 4% of its assets in Europe.

Another problem: Not many companies are pure water plays. Some are pipeline companies; others produce pumps and other things needed to deliver water. In that sense, they're more infrastructure plays than actual investments in water.

Fund news

* If you converted your traditional IRA to a Roth and are feeling buyer's remorse, you have until October 15 to undo what you did. Jeremy Kisner, a financial planner and author of A Good Financial Planner Will Tell You, redoing a Roth conversion will let you recoup the taxes you paid to do so. It's not a good strategy for everyone, but if you paid Uncle Same $10,000 in taxes to convert your Roth and suddenly find yourself short of cash, a Roth redo might be the thing to do.

* Say farewell to the Arterio Funds, which voted to shut their U.S. stock funds.

* Brown Capital Management Small Company Fund (BCSIX) reopened to new investors Sept. 1, according to the ever-useful mutualfundobserver.com

* Fall reading: John Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Funds, has a new book: The Clash of the Cultures. Robert Pozen, former CEO of the MFS Funds, has one, too: Extreme Productivity.