Money Management Executive articles from November 2003

Money Management Executive archives from November 2003

At Deadline.(Strong Financial chairman will face SEC, state charges; notes other news)
November 3, 2003... Strong Financial Chairman To Face SEC, State Charges: Wisconsin Also Joins Fray New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced last week he plans to formally charge Richard Strong, chairman and founder of Strong Financial, with using...

Round 1: Sihpol v. Bank of America Corp.
November 3, 2003... Do Firms Owe Fund Execs Indemnity in Fund Scandal Suits? Fund executives who have already been cut loose in the first wave of firings in the mutual fund scandal may find themselves legally hung out to dry by former employers looking to save...

Putnam Skippers Timed Their Own Funds.
November 3, 2003... A headache for the mutual fund industry has developed into a migraine as Putnam Investments and two of its portfolio managers have been accused of market timing their own funds. Massachusetts regulators and the Securities and Exchange...

BONY Links Managed-Product Strengths.(Bank of New York sets up Pershing Managed Account Services)
November 3, 2003... By integrating Lockwood Financial Services and its Pershing unit into one separately managed account platform, Bank of New York claims that it will be able to increase distribution and launch the next generation of these products. The...

Bullard Takes His Case to the Hill: Calls for Mutual Fund Oversight Board'.
November 3, 2003... The fund industry's most prominent shareholder advocate is urging Congress to create an oversight board to protect mutual fund shareholders from fraud. Mercer Bullard, founder of shareholder advocacy group Fund Democracy and assistant law...

Exchange Rate Volatility Tempers Recovery Outlook.(Global fund manager survey)
November 3, 2003... Fund managers continue to remain optimistic about stocks, even though potential volatility in the currency markets gives them some pause and a majority of them foresee single-digit returns for the foreseeable future, the most recent Merrill...

Brick-Toting Boilermaker Beats Whistle Blower.(Union boilermaker reportedly smashed brick into head of Putnam Investments phone operator )
November 3, 2003... A union boilermaker reportedly smashed a brick into the head of a Putnam Investments phone operator earlier this year, worried that the man was about to report the union's questionable stock-trading practices to the Securities and Exchange...

Half Contacted by SEC Admit to Market Timing.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2003... Half of the companies that the Securities and Exchange Commission has contacted with regards to improper trading have reportedly admitted wrongdoing. Forty-four of the 88 companies who've received letters from the SEC have allowed some form of...

SMAs May Get Big Boost Through DTCC Ops Link.(Separately managed accounts)(Brief Article)
November 3, 2003... If the Securities and Exchange Commission approves a filing by DTCC, the not-for-profit clearing and settlement giant, best known for its work for the mutual fund industry, it will be able to do the same for separately managed accounts. ...

Flanagan, Johnson to Serve As Co-CEOs at Franklin.(Franklin Resources)(Brief Article)
November 3, 2003... Mutual fund company Franklin Resources has named Martin L. Flanagan and Gregory E. Johnson co-chief executive officers, effective Jan. 1, 2004. Current CEO Charles Johnson will continue in his role as chairman. Flanagan and Johnson have...

Wilkins Heads Distribution For State Street Research.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2003... State Street Research has named Kevin N. Wilkins head of distribution for both institutional and retail products. He reports to Richard S. Davis, president and chief executive officer. "This structure will enable us to take a more strategic...

Alternative Fund Group Elects Cooper as Chairman.(Managed Funds Association )(Brief Article)
November 3, 2003... The Managed Funds Association has elected Adam Cooper, the senior managing director and general counsel of Citadel Investment Group, to be its chairman. Cooper succeeds Samuel S. Weiser, founder of Foxdale Management, as the association's...

Jones Becomes Senior VP, Access Data Corporation.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2003... Joseph H. Jones has been promoted to senior vice president, managed services, at Access Data Corp., from senior vice president, professional services. In this new role, Jones is responsible for business continuity and disaster recover services...

BoA/Fleet Deal to Create Fourth-Largest Fund Complex.(Bank of America's gargantuan purchase of FleetBoston Financial Corp)
November 3, 2003... Wall Street marveled last week at how Bank of America's gargantuan purchase of FleetBoston Financial Corp. creates the second-largest bank in the United States. But little has been mentioned about how it will result in the fourth-largest fund...

Navellier Battle with Independent Directors Enters Final Round.(Navellier Management and independent trustees of Navellier's mutual funds )
November 3, 2003... After six years and millions of dollars in legal fees, the final round of the much-publicized corporate governance battle between Navellier Management of Reno, Nev., and the independent trustees of Navellier's mutual funds may soon be over. ...

At Deadline.(National Association of Securities Dealers conducts sweep of broker/dealers involved in state college savings programs )
November 10, 2003... NASD Probes B/D Sales Of College Savings Plans WASHINGTON The National Association of Securities Dealers is conducting a sweep of broker/dealers involved in state college savings programs to determine if investors are being sold unsuitable...

More Phonies Betting On the Ponies One in 10 Mutual Funds Guilty of Late Trading: SEC.
November 10, 2003... Fund industry executives who thought they might dodge the scandal bullet had their odds reduced drastically last week. As regulators made their way to Capitol Hill last week to testify before lawmakers, Stephen Cutler, the Securities and...

The Most Feared Man on Wall Street: Spitzer's Probe Puts Every Fund Company at Risk.
November 10, 2003... Now that New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's probe has taken down the chairmen of Putnam Investments and Strong Funds, and has called the fund industry a "cesspool" filled with "vermin" in the process, he's not only gotten the...

Morningstar Crowns Stars on SMAs.(Morningstar of Chicago launched a new star rating system for separately managed accounts)
November 10, 2003... In the latest sign that separate accounts are truly going mainstream, Morningstar of Chicago has just launched a new star rating system for the investment class. Some said the new service could ramp up interest in the already rapidly growing...

No Silver Bullet Yet for SMA Platforms.(Any software platform for separately managed accounts has limitations)
November 10, 2003... NEW YORK No software platform for separately managed accounts is without its limitations. None can handle the multiple products that advisers and clients want to tether, and all use different interfaces, forcing SMA execs to turn to the...

Spitzer's Saber Rattling Prompts Fund Reform Bill.
November 10, 2003... WASHINGTON The crusade against mutual funds for ripping off customers is reaping benefits as Congress prepares to draft new legislation to curtail trading abuses and protect shareholders. Testifying at a series of hearings before both the...

ICI Outlines Three Steps to Deter Fraud.(Investment Company Institute)
November 10, 2003... The Investment Company Institute's top officials presented ideas to the Senate and the Securities and Exchange Commission last week to fix the problems of late-trading, market timing and insider market timing. But they might soon need to add...

Dresdner RCM Takes on Migliori as Senior PM.(Dresdner RCM Global Investors )(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Dresdner RCM Global Investors has hired Scott Migliori, a senior co-manager with Provident Investment Counsel as its new senior portfolio manager, in an effort to boost the capacity of its U.S. large-cap growth equity team. Migliori, who...

Boutique Shop Pugh Capital Names New Marketing Head.(Pugh Capital Management)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Pugh Capital Management, the Seattle-based fixed-income money manager, has named Paul Ravetta as its new marketing director. Ravetta, most recently the assistant director of sales and marketing at Safeco Asset Management, left that firm...

AllianceBernstein CIO Adelson Hangs up His Hat.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... After 22 years with the firm, Andrew Adelson, chief investment officer and manager of international investments for AllianceBernstein Institutional Investment Management, is hanging up his hat, a staff member at the firm said. Adelson, 48,...

NASD Probes Late Trades At Prudential Securities.(National Association of Securities Dealers )(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... The National Association of Securities Dealers at press time was reportedly investigating Prudential Securities for potential late trading out of the company's Boston office. The NASD is also interested in determining if the orders for...

Spitzer May Hit Alliance, Deutsche Bank Next.(Alliance Capital and Deutsche Bank)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Alliance Capital and Deutsche Bank are two other giants that New York's top regulator may come down on next, according to reports last week. New York and the SEC are investigating whether Alliance permitted Canary Capital Partners and Las...

Equity Funds Reap $24.5B But Janus, Putnam, Strong Hit Hard with Outflows.(Brief Article)
November 17, 2003... As the mutual fund trading scandals widened in October, equity funds on the whole had their biggest month of inflows since March 2002, according to the monthly estimate released Tuesday by AMG Data Services (see MME 10/27/03). Investors added a...

Fund Fallout Already Dealing Blow to Stocks.(Brief Article)
November 17, 2003... With investors withdrawing their money from mutual funds, the corresponding stocks within those funds could see their prices plummet. Putnam Investment's loss of $14 billion in the first week of this month forced the company to sell more than...

Putnam Got Away with Timing for Years It's Deja Vu All Over Again at Putnam.(Putnam Investments )
November 17, 2003... Fund managers placing their own interests ahead of those invested in the funds. Senior management turning a blind eye to future misdeeds by failing to punish offenders severely. Sound familiar? This, in fact, happened at Putnam...

SEC Chair's Mission: Fix Fund Industry.
November 17, 2003... The mutual fund industry, while still viable and in position to bounce back, needs drastic changes and needs them now, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William H. Donaldson said in a sometimes scathing, sometimes positive speech. ...

VAs Under Pressure Over Market Timing.(Variable annuities)
November 17, 2003... Brace yourselves. Recent problems in the mutual fund industry with market timing arbitrageurs could spill over into the variable annuity industry. Stephen Cutler, director of the Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement division, has...

Small Plans Flee Putnam Mirroring Jumbo States.(Putnam Investments)
November 17, 2003... When the news first surfaced that accusations of fraud and market timing were being leveled against Putnam Investments, attention immediately turned towards the firm's largest clients in anticipation of a backlash. And in the first week of...

Banks Muscle in on Big Five's SMA Command.
November 17, 2003... Banks aren't exactly knocking the Big Five brokers out of the SMA ring but they're throwing them a few jabs. Domination by the five large sponsor firms in the separately managed account business has been challenged over the past few years,...

The Most Memorable Ads of 2003 Aren't All That Memorable.
November 17, 2003... Quick! Name a favorite mutual fund or investment management commercial or advertisement you've seen this year. We'll wait. Still waiting . . . Hard pressed to recall even one? Unless you are intimately involved in the production of...

A New Ad Wrinkle: The Public Apology.(Ad from Putnam Investments)
November 17, 2003... Although Putnam Investments of Boston is best known for its multi-year print advertising campaign under the theme of truth-in-labeling, its Nov. 10th full page ad in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, The...

Executive Moves.(Larry Lasser, CEO of Putnam Investments, resigns; is replaced by Charles "Ed" Haldeman, now CEO and president)
November 17, 2003... Putnam, Strong Replace CEO, Chairman in Probe Larry Lasser, the 18-year CEO of Putnam Investments, who has just resigned, has been replaced by Charles "Ed" Haldeman, now CEO and president. A.J.C. "Ian" Smith becomes chairman. The decision...

Brokers Rate MFS, AIM, WM Group Tops.
November 17, 2003... When it comes to mutual funds, for brokers, the bigger the better. Boston consulting firm Dalbar's study of marketing and operations managers found that larger firms are in a league of their own when it comes to supporting broker/dealers....

At Deadline.(Members of House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to approve Mutual Funds Integrity and Fee Transparency Act, also known as Baker Bill)(Brief Article)
November 24, 2003... House Passes Baker Bill, Updated to Address Scandal Members of the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly (418-2) Wednesday to approve the Mutual Funds Integrity and Fee Transparency Act, also known as the Baker Bill. "The door...

Bear Stearns, Dreyfus Ink $4.7 Billion Fund Deal.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2003... Asset management firm Dreyfus will market $4.7 billion in Bear Stearns assets, the companies announced last Tuesday. The agreement, reached after months of negotiation and due diligence, calls for the transfer of approximately $3 billion of...

Funds Freeze Broker Kickbacks.(Broker compensation deals among mutual funds attract more intense regulatory scrutiny)
November 24, 2003... Broker compensation deals among mutual funds are attracting more intense regulatory scrutiny for possible conflicts of interest as the $7 trillion mutual fund industry remains on the defensive. Steering brokerage commissions to securities...

State Treasurers in Quandary Over 529s: Scandal Prompts Wisconsin to Push for Regulatory Changes.
November 24, 2003... Think mutual fund investors are the only ones trying to decipher which sponsors have been naughty and which have been nice? State treasurers, charged with running their 529 college savings plans, are in a quandary of their own. In light of...

ICI to Congress: We Were Dumb': SEC to Tighten Policing of Mutual Funds.
November 24, 2003... WASHINGTON - Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee last week, SEC Chairman William Donaldson called for the formation of a new risk assessment unit to circumvent abuses in mutual funds and other investments. He also called for a...

UBS Thumps Estimates, Waves Goodbye to Bear Market'.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2003... After posting its best single-quarter showing since 2000, UBS shattered mostly all forecasts and, at the same time, announced the end to the global bear market. "It's obviously true that the bear market is over," said Peter Wuffli, UBS chief...

Insurance Ad Campaigns Gear Up for Holiday.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2003... Insurance companies are gearing up for the holiday season with new ads. MetLife has added two television spots and two print ads to its "Have you met life today?" campaign. The company is targeting the Thanksgiving holidays, focusing on...

Gen-X Women Have Saved $400K-Plus: Allstate.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2003... Generation X may have a nebulous name, but female Gen Xers are clear when it comes to their finances, according to a survey by Allstate Financial. Women of the Baby Boom, who range in age from 38 to 57, have saved on average $451,000. Women of...

Executive Moves.(Two Pilgrim Baxter & Associates executives quit amid possible Spitzer probe)
November 24, 2003... Pilgrim Baxter CEO, Co-Founder Quit in Probe As the news broke that New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer might press charges against them, Harold Baxter, chairman and chief executive officer of Pilgrim Baxter & Associates, and Gary...

Investors, Unite!(Mutual fund investigation will cause investors to unite)
November 24, 2003... After interviewing the CEO of a Geneva-based fund company at their Park Avenue headquarters some years ago, I couldn't help but notice their private stretch limousine parked out front. The vanity plates tipped it off. The shareholders sure...

Wealth Manager Eyes Midsize Banks, Neglected Millionaires.(Liebau Asset Management Co. will manage domestic equity portfolios for individuals with $1 million to $5 million of assets, endowments, foundations and corporate pension plans)
November 24, 2003... A former Vanguard investment fund manager has established a wealth management firm in California to target millionaire investors he sees as relatively neglected, a group that analysts say midsize banks also are pursuing. F. Jack Liebau,...

What is a Mutual Fund?
November 24, 2003... Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) has suggested banishing the phrase "mutual fund" from our financial vocabulary because of investors wrongly thinking they collectively own a fund company. That got us thinking. What if we asked college...