Money Management Executive articles from January 2007

Money Management Executive archives from January 2007

Fidelity to Repay $42M As Result of Gift Probe.(Fidelity Investments settlement with Jefferies and Company Inc.)(Brief article)
January 8, 2007... As a result of an internal probe, Fidelity Investments agreed to repay $42 million, plus interest, to funds whose traders and portfolio managers steered trades to Jefferies & Co., which lavished them with gifts. A final settlement, however,...

Putnam Sale Could Impact its 401(k) Biz: Power Needs Feet on the Street' to Retain, Grow Accounts.(Putnam Investments Inc. acquired by Power Corporation of Canada)
January 8, 2007... The widely reported, but not yet announced, $3.9 billion sale of Putman Investments to Montreal-based Power Corp. could mean the end of a bumpy road for the Boston-based investment firm and its New York-based parent, Marsh & McLennan. And...

Small Funds-of-Funds Grapple with Rule: SEC Now Requiring Disclosure of Underlying Fees.
January 8, 2007... While the Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule requiring greater transparency in the costs of funds-of-funds is geared at protecting those saving for retirement, it could mean more headaches for managers of smaller, non-proprietary...

Women Getting More Involved in Finances.
January 8, 2007... Of all of the cliches about men and women, one of the most indelible is that men are best left in charge of household finances. However, the barrier is closing between segregated duties, and more men and women are sharing financial tasks as...

Evergreen Reaches $4.2M Settlement With NASD.(Evergreen Investments Inc., National Association of Securities Dealers)(Brief article)
January 8, 2007... Evergreen Investments agreed to pay a $4.2 million civil penalty to the NASD over directed-brokerage practices by its broker/dealer distributor. At question in such practices is brokerages' acceptance of trades from mutual fund complexes in...

Ameriprise Unit Charged $93 Million by NASD.(Securities America Inc., National Association of Securities Dealers)(Brief article)
January 8, 2007... An arbitration panel organized by the NASD found a unit of Ameriprise, Securities America, and one of its stockbrokers guilty of steering three retired airline pilots into high-fee mutual funds. The panel awarded the three $9.3 million plus...

Regulators Probe Motive Behind Hedge Fund Sublets.(Brief article)
January 8, 2007... Concerned that investment banks looking to curry trading and prime brokerage business with hedge funds are renting out office space to them at a discount, regulators are reportedly beginning to take a close look at so-called "hedge fund...

Executive Moves.(Sentinel Financial Services appointed Jim Cronin)(U.S. Global Investors appointed Michael S. Dunn)(iMoneyNet appointed Katharine Firth )
January 8, 2007... Sentinel Financial Services Names Cronin President Sentinel Financial Services has named Jim Cronin president, in charge of the firm's sales and distribution strategy. Sentinel Financial is the distribution arm of Sentinel Funds and a...

Advisers Missing Out on 529 Opportunities.(529 investment plans)
January 8, 2007... An overwhelming majority of financial advisers are not steadfastly selling 529 college savings products, missing out on a viable opportunity to establish stronger client relationships and sales of other products. Seventy-six percent of...

Q&A: Technology Standardization Fueling SMA Evolution.(PFPC Managed Account Services's Stephen J. DeAngelis interviewed about separately managed account industry)(Interview)
January 8, 2007... Without question, the separately managed account industry is undergoing an evolution, led in large part by the industry's own initiatives to move toward the standardization of operating technology. But where are we right now, and what...

ICI Issues Guidance On XBRL Taxonomy.(Brief article)
January 15, 2007... Interactive mutual fund disclosure may be a step closer to a reality. The Investment Company Institute issued a draft of taxonomy for eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) data tagging, which will be on the ICI's website for public...

Most Hedge Funds Remain Registered: Prepare for SEC Exams; Staying Squeaky Clean.(Industry overview)
January 15, 2007... After the fight for the right to remain unregistered, only about 10% of those hedge fund advisors that signed up with the Securities and Exchange Commission before last year's Feb.1 deadline have opted to withdraw, according to data from the...

UMAs Take Hybrid Overlay Approach.(Industry overview)
January 15, 2007... As the unified managed account business rapidly develops, many firms are recognizing the need to offer UMAs to clients. Once the decision is made to introduce a UMA, sponsor firms then begin grappling with whether to hire an overlay portfolio...

Next-Gen Index Products Flourish.(Industry overview)
January 15, 2007... The newest batch of index-based products aren't your father's plain-vanilla index fund that passively tracks a well-known equity index. The newest crop of indexed-products being launched in recent months are tied to proprietarily created...

Ex-Putnam CEO Lasser Settles With SEC for $75K.(Brief article)
January 15, 2007... Lawrence Lasser, the former chief executive officer of Putnam Investments, agreed to pay $75,000 to settle charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission he authorized the company to make shelf-space payments to 80 brokerage firms from 2000...

SEC Analysis Fails to Tie Indy Trustees to Returns.(Industry overview)(Brief article)
January 15, 2007... As promised, the Securities and Exchange Commission has issued an analysis of the effects of independent directors on mutual funds, but its two reports undermine its proposed rule that would require 75% of a fund's board, including the...

OppenheimierFunds to Run Illinois 529 College Plan.(Brief article)
January 15, 2007... Illinois has selected OppenheimerFunds as program manager for its 529 college savings plan, the Illinois Bright Start College Savings Program. As such, OppenheimerFunds will act as investment manager, administrator and distributor of the $2...

Executive Moves.(Industry overview)
January 15, 2007... Former Labor Official Combs Joins Vanguard Vanguard Group has hired Ann Combs, a former assistant Labor Department secretary and the former head of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, to lead a newly created institutional...

Healthcare, Tech, Financial Services to Lead 2007 Growth.(Market overview)
January 15, 2007... NEW YORK-The market isn't likely to deliver a banner year in 2007 as it did last year, but investors can take advantage of certain sectors that are poised for a turnaround. The projected earnings growth for the market is 10% this year, a...

Eaton Vance Sees 2007 as Year of the Large-Cap.(Industry overview)
January 15, 2007... NEW YORK-As the economy slows, as expected in 2007, Eaton Vance wants investors to think big. "Investors have paid way too much attention to small-caps," said Vice President and Chief Equity Investment Officer Duncan W. Richardson during a...

Three Charged in Collapse Of Hedge Fund KL Group.(cases)(Brief article)
January 22, 2007... A West Palm Beach, Fla., grand jury has indicted the three men who ran hedge fund KL Group on charges of mail and wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. The jury also indicted KL Group and subsidiaries KL Forida and Triangulum Management....

401(k) Auto Enroll, Deferral Not Enough.
January 22, 2007... Last year's Pension Protection Act went a along way toward potentially boosting the number of Americans saving for retirement, but if employers want their workers to truly be prepared, they've got to get aggressive, according to a brief...

401(k) Alternatives Face Challenges: Mutual Funds Expected to Retain Lion's Share of Assets.
January 22, 2007... In an ideal world, investors would have diverse portfolios including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and annuities to ensure a comfortable retirement. But the world of retirement planning is far from ideal, and most...

Vendors Upgrading Wealth Platforms.
January 22, 2007... As demand for wealth management services increases and more asset managers enter the business or expand their offerings, technology vendors that offer wealth management platforms for those companies to sell their products through financial...

Former Millennium Trader Gets Five Years Probation.(Brief article)
January 22, 2007... Steven Markowitz, a former trader at hedge fund Millennium Partners, was sentenced at a Tuesday hearing before New York State Supreme Court Justice James Yates to five years probation. Markowitz must also perform 300 hours of community service....

Long Arm of NYSE Hits Former Merrill Brokers.(Brief article)
January 22, 2007... Three Merrill Lynch brokers who were booted from the firm amid market-timing charges in 2003 are now under investigation by the New York Stock Exchange, according to The Wall Street Journal. Known as the "CBS Group," the...

Dozens of Brokerages Miscalculated Breakpoints.(Brief article)
January 22, 2007... Dozens of brokerages failed to fully compensate mutual fund investors for breakpoints owed to them for purchases in 2001 and 2002, and the NASD may take enforcement action against them. While the NASD won't bring fraud charges, it is...

Executive Moves.(appointments)
January 22, 2007... SEC Selects Greenberg for Philadelphia District Post The Securities and Exchange Commission has appointed Elaine C. Greenberg associate district administrator for enforcement in its Philadelphia district office, overseeing the Mid-Atlantic...

New Long/Short Funds Showcase 2007 Trends.
January 22, 2007... The new year is starting off with three new funds that may be indicative of at least one of 2007's big investment trends. The hot spot right now: absolute-return funds that aim to provide hefty returns despite whether equity or fixed-income...

Donor-Advised Funds Give IRS Cause for Concern.(Internal Revenue Service)(Brief article)
January 29, 2007... The Internal Revenue Service is reportedly scrutinizing donor-advised funds for possible abuse by individual donors, sponsoring organizations, such as endowments, and even recipients. These funds allow an investor to add money to an account...

A Few Words on 401(k) Advice: Don't be First.
January 29, 2007... BOSTON-Provisions within the Pension Protection Act that allow 401(k) plan administrators to offer investment advice to participants at first had many abuzz with the possibilities of marketing add-ons to plan sponsors and building longstanding...

Misunderstandings Dampen IRA Sales: Both Advisers, Investors Need Education.(Individual Retirement Accounts)
January 29, 2007... In the race to prepare for retirement, investors and fund complexes are missing out on one big opportunity: the Individual Retirement Account (IRA). Too often, neither investors, nor the financial advisers they turn to, really understand...

Hedge Funds Need Better Risk Controls.
January 29, 2007... With competition so fierce in the hedge fund industry, particularly for institutional money or to be selected for a fund-of-funds platform, hedge funds must pay greater attention to risk management, valuation and transparency, according to a...

Fred Alger to Pay $40M In SEC Timing Settlement.(Fred Alger & Co.)(Securities and Exchange Commission)(Brief article)
January 29, 2007... The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Fred Alger Management and Fred Alger & Co. will pay $40 million to settle charges that the firms allow both market timing and late trading in the Alger Fund. The SEC found that the companies...

Spitzer Agrees to Less Regulation to Boost Marts.(Eliot Spitzer )(Brief article)
January 29, 2007... Last week, former New York Attorney General and current New York Governor Eliot Spitzer backed a new McKinsey report calling for less regulation, joining New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) in doing so. It...

Executive Moves.(briefs)(appointments)
January 29, 2007... American Century CEO, President Lyons to Retire; Thomas to Take Position William Lyons, president for 10 years and chief executive officer of six and a half years at American Century Investments, is retiring. Jonathan Thomas, executive...

SEC Sanctions Kelmoore for Misleading Fee Disclosures.(Kelmoore Investment Company Inc.)
January 29, 2007... In a rather unusual case, the Securities and Exchange Commission sanctioned Kelmoore Investment Co. of Palo Alto, Calif., and fined the company $100,000 for misleading disclosures regarding the investment advisory fees it charged on five...

Retirees Taking Roads Less Traveled.
January 29, 2007... The days of people turning 65 and automatically flocking to Florida for golf, sun and early-bird specials are dwindling. In fact, Americans are taking different approaches to retirement. Not being financially able to retire or wanting to...