Money Management Executive articles from January 2006

Money Management Executive archives from January 2006

Deutsche Bank Answers Fidelity's Soft-Dollar Pleas.(research and trading costs)(Brief Article)
January 9, 2006... Deutsche Bank Securities, the New York-based investment banking and securities unit of German colossus Deutsche Bank, has reportedly bowed to pressure from Fidelity Investments to unbundle research and trading costs. The news comes just two...

SEC Could Target Hedge Funds in 2006: Fee Cuts Should Continue; Job Outlook Promising.
January 9, 2006... And so begins a new year in the money management industry, fraught with anxiety over whether the nation's capital markets will bounce back from a relatively flat 2005, or if December's dreaded inversion of the bond yield curve and what is...

Fisher Sees Bright Outlook as Fog Lifts'.
January 9, 2006... The bull is scraping his hooves and preparing to charge into 2006, according to Fisher Investments' market outlook report. Economic responses to recent terrorist attacks, pandemic natural disasters and rising energy costs, underscore the...

Putnam Case Shows New Defense Direction: Scandal-Skittish Companies Act Quickly to Rid Rogues.
January 9, 2006... Putnam Investments has found itself an industry example again, only this time, regulators are praising the Boston-based fund firm, once synonymous with scandal and sanctions, as a model corporate citizen. On Dec. 30, the Securities and...

2,830 Funds Lowered Fees In 04 to Median of 1.45%.(Brief Article)
January 9, 2006... As mutual funds continue to grow, more funds are charging lower fees to investors, and some industry watchers say it's about time, USA Today reports. In 2004, 2,830 mutual funds cut the fees they charged investors, representing an increase of...

U.S. Wealth Management Forms New Broker/Dealer.(United state Wealth Management)(Brief Article)
January 9, 2006... U.S. Wealth Management has launched a new broker/dealer firm to better service its growing client base. The new firm, U.S. Wealth Advisors, will provide U.S. Wealth Management's clients with the opportunity to tap into an independent platform...

Executive Moves.(Securities and Exchange Commission )(Deloitte Financial Advisory Services)
January 9, 2006... Latham & Watkins Lawyer Now SEC General Counsel Top securities lawyer and former astrophysicist Brian G. Cartwright will be joining the Securities and Exchange Commission on Jan. 23 as its general counsel, replacing Giovanni Prezioso, who...

Despite Pressures, It's Business as Usual for Hedge Funds: Most Ignore Growing Transparency Demands, Discount SEC Rule.(Securities and Exchange Commission )
January 9, 2006... Despite their increasing popularity among powerful institutional investors and pension plans, there's very little proof that in coming years the transparency of hedge funds will increase, or that their exorbitant fees will decline. In...

Investors Still Largely in the Dark.
January 9, 2006... Even in the financial world the term "survival of the fittest" comes into play. In the U.S, investor education needs to measure up if it is going to be useful to investors, as the fittest investor is the one with the most extensive knowledge....

Calugar to Pay $153M To Settle SEC Charges.(Daniel Calugar)(Securities and Exchange Commission)(market timing and late trading case)(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Daniel Calugar, the former owner of the broker/dealer Security Brokerage, agreed to pay $103 million in ill-gotten gains and a civil penalty of $50 million to settle charges of late trading and market timing, the Securities and Exchange...

ICI: Funds Regain Investor Confidence: Performance Drives Favorability, But Scandal Lingers.
January 16, 2006... Mutual fund shareholder sentiment was on the rise again in 2006, according to a survey from the Investment Company Institute of Washington, and some experts say it's proof that the industry is making strides at reclaiming its reputation as a...

Lipper Foresees Funds Trudging Ahead in 06: Predicts S&P 500 Advancing Only 3%-9%.
January 16, 2006... Investors can expect mutual funds in 2006, as in 2005, to continue to chug, but not zoom, ahead, according to senior analysts at Lipper of New York. "Whenever we say, More of the same,' we're a little uncomfortable," said Don Cassidy, a...

Small Funds Open Asian Research Offices.(Hansberger Global Investors and Oberweis Asset Management)
January 16, 2006... Want to invest in Asian securities for your mutual funds? You might want to consider staking claim to an office in Hong Kong or even India in order to cozy up to the Asian investment marketplace. Two small investment management firms...

Refco Creditors Question PlusFunds Group's Ties.
January 16, 2006... Reverberations from the collapse of derivatives broker Refco may have put PlusFunds Group on some shaky ground, according to MarketWatch.com. Last month, Refco creditors questioned how the fund manager was able to move $312 million from Refco...

Executive Moves.(Sean Gultig and John Newman joins Fiserv Investment Support Services)(Ronald DiPasquale joins Clinton Group)(C. Evan Stewart joins Zuckerman Spaeder)
January 16, 2006... Fiserv Investment Support Reassigns Two Veterans Fiserv Investment Support Services has reassigned Sean Gultig as head of the advisor services area and John Newman as vice president of institutional plan services. Both will oversee...

Merrill Equities Outlook Cautious: Experts Foresee Mid-Year Lull, Strong Finish.(Merrill Lynch Investment)
January 16, 2006... NEW YORK - Although he stopped short of declaring himself bearish, Merrill Lynch Investment Managers President and CEO Robert Doll expects a decline in the capital markets in 2006, and said that the $500 billion asset manager's plan to re-brand...

Largest Cities Not Home to the Best Savers.
January 16, 2006... Contrary to popular belief, the nation's largest cities are not home to the best savers, as A.G. Edwards' first ever "Nest Egg Index" reveals. The Nest Egg Index ranks America's 200 largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and the 50...

Automatic 401(k) Enrollment Rises to 25%: Another 48% of Employers Plan Auto Enrollment in 2006.
January 16, 2006... A penny saved is a penny earned, or so the old adage goes; but, more and more, employers are saving their workers' pennies for them. A recent report by Hewitt Associates, a human-resource consulting group based in Lincolnshire, Ill., shows...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
January 16, 2006... An article in the Jan. 9 issue misidentified the $850 million insurance lawsuit settled by Putnam Investments' parent company, Marsh & McLennan. MME regrets the error. (c) 2005 Money Management Executive and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights...

SEC Names Acting Head Of Investment Management.(Securities and Exchange Commission appoints Susan Ferris Wyderko)(Brief Article)
January 23, 2006... The Securities and Exchange Commission has named Susan Ferris Wyderko acting director of the division of investment management. Wyderko, a 20-year SEC veteran who most recently worked as the SEC's director of the office of investor education...

UBS Lesson: Keep Those E-Mails: Records Negligence Drives $49.5 Million Penalty.
January 23, 2006... It's hardly any secret that regulators are carefully examining e-mail archives to uncover wrongdoing, but the recent settlement that regulators reached with UBS Financial Services reveals just how critical the electronic paper trail has become...

Funds Plan Ahead for Independent Rule.
January 23, 2006... While the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce grapple in court over whether Federal regulators have the right to dictate the composition of mutual fund company boards, the fund companies themselves appear not to...

Rebranding Gains Traction Among Funds.
January 23, 2006... Rebranding has been a noticeable trend over the last few months, particularly in the mutual fund arena. Just last week, executives of The Reserve Funds of New York, creator of the first money market fund, announced they would drop the...

Morningstar to Rank Funds That Mimic Hedge Funds.(Brief Article)
January 23, 2006... They are built like mutual funds, but act like hedge funds, and few investors seem to know what to make of them. That may change next month, when Morningstar launches a new rankings list to help investors better track hedge-like mutual funds....

Janus Offers Mutual Fund That Uses Hedging Tactics.(Brief Article)
January 23, 2006... Janus Capital has launched a new mutual fund that utilizes hedge fund trading tactics. Called the Janus Adviser Long/Short Fund, it is the first of its sort for the asset manager, which continues to redefine itself after the losses it suffered...

Executive Moves.(Ivy Asset Management and Kasina recruits people)
January 23, 2006... Ivy Shuffles Executives Ivy Asset Management, a division of The Bank of New York, has appointed Sean Simon and Michael Singer as co-presidents and named Lawrence Simon and Howard Wohl, the firm's co-founders, vice chairmen. Meanwhile, Ivy...

ICI: Mutual Funds Most Competitive Financial Service.
January 23, 2006... It's a buyer's market in the world of mutual funds, and those that do not adapt die, or at least fail to attract investors, according to a research report assessing competition by the Investment Company Institute. With more than 90 million...

Americans Need Retirement Savings Plan of Action: Allstate Spells Out Steps to Gain Control.
January 23, 2006... In order to save for retirement, Americans must start the year off with a retirement savings plan that they can stick to for the entire year, according to Allstate Financial's fifth annual "Retirement Reality Check" survey, which measures...

NASD Alleges Kickbacks At Brokerage A.G. Edwards.(A.G. Edwards and Sons Inc)(National Association of Securities Dealers)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2006... The NASD is set to take disciplinary action against brokerage firm A.G. Edwards over allegations that the firm accepted kickbacks from mutual fund companies in 2001 and 2002 in exchange for marketing their products to certain retail customers,...

JB Oxford Holdings Settles With SEC for $2.1 Million.(Securities and Exchange Commission )(securities fraud case)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2006... JB Oxford Holdings' trade processing unit, National Clearing Corp. (NCC), has agreed to pay $2.1 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations of abusive mutual fund trading. NCC allegedly facilitated late trading and...

CCOs Wrestle Over Reporting to the SEC: Also Worry What to Do When Management Resists Change.
January 30, 2006... NEW YORK - To illustrate just how dramatically the compliance landscape has changed within the money management industry in recent years, Richard Marshall recalled his days as an examiner in the New York office of the Securities and Exchange...

Lipper Leaders' Scour For Value Stocks.
January 30, 2006... NEW YORK - Despite a less-than-spectacular outlook for 2006, mutual fund managers cited by Lipper as "Lipper Leaders" last week said they see some encouraging signs of value, if investors know where to look. And mainly, they said, value can be...

Amvescap's Power Play for PowerShares: Blends AIM's Distribution Muscle With Unique ETF Lineup.
January 30, 2006... Last week, Amvescap of London and Atlanta announced it would purchase PowerShares Capital Management of Wheaton, Ill., sponsor of 36 exchange-traded funds, for an initial purchase price of $60 million in cash plus additional contingency...

Schwab Reports Record 2005 Net Income of $725M.
January 30, 2006... Charles Schwab reported that for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2005, the company's net income was $187 million, which is impressive when compared to the $53 million for the fourth quarter of 2004. For the year ended Dec. 31, the company's net...

Fidelity's Brokerage Assets Rose 23 Percent in 2005.(Brief Article)
January 30, 2006... Although its asset management division is still king, the brokerage unit of Fidelity Investments outgrew its money manager peer in 2005 by about 14%, the Boston-based fund giant indicated in an earnings report. Fidelity Brokerage Co....

Executive Moves.(Philip P. Cave joins Wilmington Trust )(Salvatore M. Capizzi joins Illington Fund Management )(James Hawkes will retire from Eaton Vance )
January 30, 2006... Wilmington Trust Recruits Philip P. Cave as President Philip P. Cave has joined Wilmington Trust as president of Wilmington Trust FSB Georgia. In this position, Cave will lead business development and client account management for...

Distributors Urged to Consolidate Managed Account Units.
January 30, 2006... Over the last 2-1/2 years, fee-based managed account assets have soared by $500 billion, and as their star continues to rise, experts say the sponsors that best consolidate their managed account operations to deliver a consistent and...

Investors Remain Confused About Taxes.
January 30, 2006... Albert Einstein once called the income tax "the hardest thing in the world to understand." At least American investors are in the company of genius. More than ever before, investors are concerned about the tax implications of investments,...