Money Management Executive articles from June 2006

Money Management Executive archives from June 2006

Equity Mutual Funds Net $26.38 Billion During April.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Equity mutual funds took in net flows of $26.38 billion in April, down 23% from the $34.36 billion they reaped the month before, according to data from the Investment Company Institute. Investors cooled both to U.S. and world equity funds...

Funds May Get A Run For Their Money: Competing and Complementary Products Gain Traction.
June 5, 2006... WASHINGTON - Mutual fund companies may be attracting big assets now, but other investment tools are giving the $9.5 trillion industry a run for its money. Product innovation among separately managed accounts, closed-end funds and hedge...

Fund Firms Need to Bolster Wholesalers: More Salespeople, With More Experience, Boost Assets.
June 5, 2006... WASHINGTON - Trying to edge out your competition for market share? Building a bigger wholesaling force that understands the critical need for one-on-one face time and can provide the perfect "value-added" services may be just the ticket to...

Auto 401(k) Enrollment Not Widespread: Impact of Savers Society' Campaign Questioned.
June 5, 2006... It may be a while before mutual funds feel the impact of the "Savers Society" campaign, a recently launched effort by two former vice presidential nominees to encourage companies to offer automatic 401(k) enrollment. While studies show...

In 60th Year, Fidelity Has Cause for Celebration.(Fidelity Investments)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... As Fidelity Investments turned 60, the fund giant again has cause for celebration. Recent efforts to overhaul its fund management-with new portfolio managers, more lenient investment mandates and a smattering of new funds-have paid off,...

ProFunds Files to Offer First Leveraged ETFs.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... ProFunds has filed registration statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer 12 new leveraged exchange-traded funds, the first ETFs to apply this strategy. The four bullish ETFs would double the market's upside, while...

Executive Moves.(New York Life Investment Management L.L.C. promotes Brian A. Murdock)(Polaris Capital Corp. appoints Kristin Weisker)(Third Wave Global Investors appoints Kevin J. Hebner )
June 5, 2006... NYLIM Selects Murdock As Chief Executive Officer New York Life Investment Management has promoted Brian A. Murdock to chief executive officer, succeeding Gary Wendlandt, who has also been promoted, to senior vice president of NYLIM's parent...

Boston Financial, SEI, John Hancock Take Top Honors.(Boston Financial Data Services Inc., John Hancock Advisers L.L.C., Space Electronics Inc.)
June 5, 2006... Boston Financial Data Services, SEI and John Hancock take top honors in SourceMedia's 2006 Fund Operations Awards. Now in its fourth year, the awards program is sponsored by Money Management Executive and judged by a panel of leading industry...

Planners See Big Potential For Retirement Income.(Financial Planning Association)(Brief article)
June 12, 2006... While financial planners see a tremendous market in the years ahead for retirement income, they believe that the complexities of planning an income strategy for each client combined with compliance issues will keep that growth at a slow pace,...

Growth Abounds for Streamlined Firms: Service Providers Help Fund Complexes Get Simple.
June 12, 2006... WELLESLEY, Mass. - In order to compete in a growing marketplace, mutual fund complexes have to get simple, according to Brian Moynihan, president of global wealth and investment management for Bank of America of Charlotte, N.C. And that...

Globalization Creates New Needs: Fund Companies Look for Tools to Adapt.
June 12, 2006... WELLESLEY, Mass. - As U.S. mutual fund companies continue to globetrot in search of growth opportunities, they are increasingly looking to service providers to help them adapt. "In a globalizing world, we're beginning to see so much we...

Domini to Actively Manage Four Funds: Moving From Proprietary SRI Index Fund Tracking.
June 12, 2006... Amy Domini, the chairman and president of Domini Funds of New York and a widely respected pioneer of the socially responsible investment world, recently announced that four of her eight mutual funds would no longer invest according to the...

Wealth Advisor Institute Targets Affluent Investors.(Brief article)
June 12, 2006... Citing a need for an organization to support financial advisers, accountants, insurance agents, attorneys and other professionals who serve the high-net-worth market, a group of advisers from around the nation has launched the Wealth Advisor...

Vanguard Plans to Launch Institutional Share Class.(Brief article)
June 12, 2006... Vanguard next month will introduce a new share class for institutional clients, called Signal Shares. It will initially apply to 12 equity and fixed-income index funds, with fees ranging between nine and 13 basis points. Eventually, Vanguard...

Executive Moves.(Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. appoints Peter E. Roth)(John Hancock Funds Inc. appoints Thomas Kinzler)(Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. appoints Donald F. Donahue )
June 12, 2006... Keefe, Bruyette Names Roth CEO of Asset Unit Keefe, Bruyette & Woods has named Peter E. Roth chief executive officer of its asset management division, KBW Asset Management. The new position is a promotion for Roth, who has headed KBW's...

Questioning the Status Quo Adds Value for Funds.
June 12, 2006... WASHINGTON - The best new idea in mutual funds might start with a trip to the gym. It was a treadmill that inspired an executive at T. Rowe Price of Baltimore, who hopped on for a run, and finished with an idea to streamline rollover IRA...

SEC Revisits Indy Rule, Seeks Public Comment.(Securities and Exchange Commission)
June 19, 2006... The Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously last week to revisit the controversial independent chairman rule, reopening it for 60 days to public comment on its costs and "any issue related to the underlying purpose of the...

XBRL Making Markets More Efficient: Could Also Improve Mutual Fund Disclosure.
June 19, 2006... The Internet could allow mutual funds to disclose to investors all the information that they have the right to, only, but on a need-to-know basis - and that might just be what investors want most, a panel of experts told Federal regulators...

Intermediaries Seek Extension on 22c-2: Warn They Won't Meet October Deadline.
June 19, 2006... Financial intermediaries want more time to comply with Securities and Exchange Commission's Rule 22c-2, slated to take effect Oct. 16. Rule 22c-2 permits mutual funds to charge a redemption fee of 2% of the amount withdrawn or transferred...

Wachovia Bank Sued for Self-Dealing: Also Accused of Breaching Fiduciary Duty.
June 19, 2006... Wachovia Bank has been named a defendant in a potential class-action lawsuit that charges that the bank acted in its own self-interest without regard to its responsibilities to the sole beneficiary of two discretionary trust accounts originally...

Technology Once Again Offers Promise, But is the Market Ready?
June 19, 2006... Technology funds are ready to prove to investors that they've learned their lesson, come back with stronger fundamentals and seize on a development that rivals the Internet, according to Rudy D. Torrijos III, a vice president for emerging...

CEO of PIMCO Affiliate, Corba, to Settle With SEC.(chief executive officer)(Pacific Investment Management Co.)(Kenneth Corba)(PEA Capital)(Brief article)
June 19, 2006... Kenneth Corba, the former chief executive officer of PEA Capital, agreed Monday to pay $200,000 to settle with the Securities and Exchange Commission for allowing hedge fund Canary Capital Partners to market time $4 billion worth of trades in...

Court Rejects Shelf-Space Lawsuit Against Merrill.
June 19, 2006... A lawsuit that investors brought against Merrill Lynch financial advisers for promoting a number of mutual funds that paid them extra money to be promoted, including those from Dreyfus, Lord Abbett and BlackRock, has been dismissed. The...

Fred Alger Agrees to Settle With New York A.G., SEC.(Fred Alger Management)(Attorney General )(Securities and Exchange Commission)
June 19, 2006... Fred Alger Management has reached a tentative settlement agreement with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and the Securities and Exchange Commission for allowing market timing and late trading in its mutual funds. Without admitting or...

Executive Moves.(Touchstone Investments hired Jennifer Durand)(CitiStreet L.L.C. hired Michael Rubacky, Tim Murphy, Thomas Degnan)(Vanguard appointed Amy Gutmann )
June 19, 2006... Touchstone Hires Durand As Manager of Sales Desk Touchstone Investments has hired Jennifer Durand as manager of the internal sales desk. Durand, who has 12 years of experience in the financial services industry, joins the company from...

NSCC to Address Market Timing.(National Securities Clearing Corp.)
June 19, 2006... The National Securities Clearing Corp. (NSCC) plans to have a solution in place by mid-August to help mutual fund companies comply with the Securities and Exchange Commission's Rule 22c-2. The rule, scheduled to take effect on Oct. 16, requires...

Fidelity to Move 1,200 Jobs To Florida Customer Center.(Fidelity Investments)(Brief article)
June 26, 2006... Fidelity Investments will reportedly move 1,200 jobs to Florida, planning to open a customer-service center in Jacksonville by 2010 that will be manned by phone representatives, traders, salespeople and financial planners. It will be located...

ETFs Continue to Proliferate, Specialize: Providing Individual Investors with Institutional Tools.
June 26, 2006... Increasingly, exchange-traded funds have individuals acting like institutional investors - or, at least, are offering them the tools to do so. The latest example is a spate of currency funds unveiled by Rockville, Md.-based Rydex last...

Affluent Americans Need More Advice: More Money Leads to More Problems.
June 26, 2006... First, the good news. A decade marked by low interest rates, increasing property values, and a forward-moving economy has churned out millions of affluent Americans, or those with between $100,000 and $3 million to invest. Now, for the...

Funds Eye Asia, Fed Hikes, Volatility: Analysis of Shareholder Reports Indicates Concerns.
June 26, 2006... What are portfolio managers, chief investment officers and fund executives telling their fund shareholders these days? A review of the annual and semi-annual mutual fund reports to shareholders that were recently filed by firms for the six...

New Suitability Regulations Could Slow 529 Growth.
June 26, 2006... As college financing plans evolve, so do the rules about selling them. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 is making prepaid college tuition plans more attractive. At the same time, as states add special features to their 529 plans to attract...

Franklin Templeton Offers Global Real Estate Fund.(Franklin/Templeton Investor Services Inc.)(Brief article)
June 26, 2006... While investors flee foreign equity markets, Franklin Templeton Investments offers an alternative, the Franklin Templeton Global Real Estate Fund. The fund, which focuses on a sector that traditionally has low correlation with stocks and...

Democrats Get Blue Fund' That Caters to Sensibilities.(Blue Investment Management)(Brief article)
June 26, 2006... A new mutual fund from Blue Investment Management, the Blue Fund, caters to Democratic sensibilities by seeking out companies that make political donations to Democratic candidates or political action committees and embrace progressive values....

Executive Moves.(Hewitt Associates L.L.C - Dale L. Gifford, Bryan J. Doyle)(Dreman Value Management L.P. - Boris Onefater )(WisdomTree Investments - Todd Westby, Will Abbott, Morgan Lee)
June 26, 2006... Two Top Execs Announce Departures From Hewitt Hewitt Associates' chief executive officer will retire in December, and the president of its core business has resigned. Dale L. Gifford, 56, who has been CEO of the company since 1992, is to...