Money Management Executive articles from August 2007

Money Management Executive archives from August 2007

House Overwhelmingly Passes Iran, Darfur Bills.
August 6, 2007... The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed two bills that would prevent lawsuits against mutual and pension funds that divest holdings in companies that are doing business in Darfur and Iran. Both bills will establish a federal...

SEC Stepping Back from the GAAP? Acceptance of IFRS Accounting Could Pose Challenges.
August 6, 2007... Globalization may be coming in baby steps. In the effort to move to a single, universal financial reporting standard, the Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously last month to open for public comment a proposal to allow U.S....

Sarbox a Relief for Small Companies: But Unlikely to Stop Outflows from Small-Cap Funds.
August 6, 2007... Relaxation of Sarbanes-Oxley audit and reporting rules passed unanimously by the Securities and Exchange Commission last month may address the burdensome compliance costs of the law that companies-especially small ones-complained about, but it...

401(k) Balances Surged 17% in 2006.
August 6, 2007... Workers are starting to catch on to all the ominous warnings of what will happen if they don't save enough for retirement, and the average 401(k) account increased 17% in 2006 from the previous year. Those were two of the key findings in...

Subprime Crisis Extending Beyond Credit Markets.
August 6, 2007... The subprime mortgage crisis appears to be spreading beyond the credit markets, dampening not only the U.S. stock market, but also international markets. Merrill Lynch, in its monthly survey of fund managers, asked them to cite potential...

Week in Review.
August 6, 2007... BoA Snags Jeffrey Carney From Fidelity Investments Jeffrey Carney has joined Bank of America as president, retirement and global wealth and investment management client solutions. Carney was previously president of Fidelity Retirement...

Executive Moves.
August 6, 2007... Wrobleske, Ngugi, Reyes Now With Stanford Group Three senior executives have joined private client divisions of Stanford Group. Robert Ryan Wrobleske is now senior vice president, financial adviser and John K. Ngugi is senior performance...

Online Investing v. 2.0-A Brand New World.(Corporate Insight)
August 6, 2007... It was 1997. Florida beat Cleveland in the World Series, Harry Potter was not yet a household name and Y2K was barely a gleam in programmers' eyes. That was also the year my firm, Corporate Insight, began tracking the online brokerage world...

Hot Trend in Funds: Global Warming, Climate Changes.
August 6, 2007... Global warming and its effect on climate changes isn't just the topic du jour for cocktail parties. This worldwide theme is making its way into mutual fund strategies. Fund advisors are hoping to get both a warm reception from investors and...

Fidelity Aggressively Pursuing 403(b) Market.
August 13, 2007... With a new Internal Revenue Service requirement about to require 403(b) sponsors to assume fiduciary duty, much as 401(k) sponsors do, and pare back the number of offerings, the sponsors are inevitably going to scrutinize their plan...

Hedge Funds: Ramp Up Risk Controls.
August 13, 2007... Hedge funds must learn to open up a little while clamping down on operational risk management, according to a recent web presentation by Deloitte & Touche Tohmatsu. As scrutiny over the $2 billion, growing industry from regulators and...

401(k) Administrators Leery of Advice.
August 13, 2007... The Pension Protection Act ushered in far-reaching changes to 401(k) plans, including fiduciary protection for providers using automatic enrollment and default investments, and making permanent higher contribution levels and catch-up...

Happy Together: Annuities & 401(k)s: Need For Retirement Income to Drive Sales.(Financial report)
August 13, 2007... Implementing automatic enrollment and auto-escalation in 401(k) plans is a start in the effort to push employees to prepare for retirement, but it may not be enough. Participants also need help planning how to mete out their savings after...

Funds Hiring Weathermen To Provide Trading Insight.
August 13, 2007... While mutual fund companies and investment banks have had meteorologists on their trading desks for almost 30 years, the practice apparently is increasing-affecting portfolio managers' trading decisions not only of commodities, power,...

Week in Review.(briefs)
August 13, 2007... GAO Suggests Incentives To Keep Workers Working The Government Accountability Office says more Americans need to work longer to live well in retirement. "We, along with the others, have suggested that increasing labor force...

Executive Moves.
August 13, 2007... McColgan Leaving Fidelity To Pursue Opportunities' Ellyn A. McColgan, president of distribution and operations at Fidelity Investments, resigned last week "to pursue opportunities outside of the company," Fidelity said in a statement. ...

Buy-Side Turns to Alternative Research.
August 13, 2007... While sell-side research struggles to keep up its allure with the buy-side, many mutual fund companies are turning to alternative research, as it can offer unique and innovative ideas. Alternative research, also known as independent...

BISYS Quietly Sells Distribution, B/D Businesses.
August 13, 2007... Citigroup's acquisition of BISYS for $1.47 billion last May, with a subsequent spin off of two units to private equity firm J.C. Flowers appeared to be a done deal. But one last under-the-radar acquisition took place two weeks ago. ...

TIAA-CREF Ad Campaign Stresses Its Dot-org Status.(Website overview)
August 20, 2007... TIAA-CREF has launched a new $50 million advertising campaign centered around a simple idea that it hopes will differentiate itself from other financial services companies: its dot-org status, The New York Times reports. In conjunction with...

Assessing Asset Allocation Funds: 401(k) Advisor's Scorecard' Aims to Aid Fiduciaries.
August 20, 2007... So-called target-date and target-risk asset allocation funds portend to make investing easier for 401(k) participants, but the proliferation of these products in recent years can make choosing which to offer a headache for sponsors. ...

More Funds Turning to 130/30 Stratgies.
August 20, 2007... Competition, if nothing else, keeps companies constantly looking for the next innovative product or strategy that will bring more assets to their firm. That is why many asset management firms are choosing to offer the increasingly popular...

Fifth Third, Bank of Oklahoma Pay Up After BISYS Kickback Quagmire.
August 20, 2007... BISYS Fund Services may be all but history now with various servicing units having been parceled out to other acquiring firms. But troubles are still brewing among at least some of the 27 mutual fund clients that the firm had questionable...

Decline in Pensions Good News for Funds.
August 20, 2007... The Department of Labor estimates that automatic enrollment in 401(k) plans, as protected under the Pension Protection Act, will add between $45 billion to $90 billion a year to the plans, which had $3.6 trillion in assets under management in...

Week in Review.(briefs)(General American Life Insurance Co. settled charges to Securities and Exchange Commission)(resignations of Roel Campos, Annette Nazareth and Paul Atkins at Securities and Exchange Commission)(Firms Risk Fiduciary Liabilities in 401(k) Plans )
August 20, 2007... General American Settles With SEC for $3.3M General American Life Insurance, a division of MetLife, has settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission for $3.3 million, on charges it failed to prevent late trading of mutual funds in...

Executive Moves.
August 20, 2007... William Blair Names Chief Operating Officer William Blair Investment Management has hired Patrick J. Sheppard as chief operating officer. He comes to the firm from The Boston Company Asset Management, where he held the same title. ...

Asset Managers Hot on M&A Trail.
August 20, 2007... Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the asset management industry is booming, and demand is not likely to stop anytime soon, nor are the competitive prices buyers are willing to pay for the deals. However, market turmoil and a more...

Acquisition Puts CheckFree's SMA Platform in Question.
August 20, 2007... The acquisition of CheckFree Corp. of Norcross, Ga., by Fiserv of Brookfield, Wis., announced on Aug. 2, has raised questions as to whether CheckFree's investment services division will stay or go, perhaps being independently sold off to the...