Money Management Executive articles from November 2007

Money Management Executive archives from November 2007

FINRA Fines Oppenheimer $1M for Breakpoint Info.
November 5, 2007... The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined Oppenheimer & Co. $1 million for intentionally submitting inaccurate mutual fund breakpoint data and for failing to properly supervise its brokers. FINRA also required Oppenheimer to...

Fund CIOs May not be Ready for Web 2.0: Security Concerns Dampen Excitement Over New Technologies.
November 5, 2007... LAS VEGAS-Chief information officers and other IT professionals often find themselves in a quasi-parental role as they oversee their company's technology functions: trying to balance employees' desire for freedom in their use of hardware and...

Mobile Devices Could Soon Replace PCs: BlackBerries No Longer the Tools of Just Fund Wholesalers.
November 5, 2007... LAS VEGAS-Wireless, handheld devices are becoming so advanced, consumers are increasingly relying on and expecting their BlackBerries, Sidekicks and iPhones to replace laptops for all their business and personal needs. "Mobility is no...

Funds Embrace Execution Management: Asset Managers Seek Speed, Control.
November 5, 2007... LAS VEGAS-As trading technology continues to improve in terms of speed, efficiency and control, asset managers are constantly clamoring for the newest software applications that can provide real-time market data and provide best execution as...

Retirement Well-Being New Tack for Fund Firms?
November 5, 2007... A new marketing idea we've been hearing at recent conferences for the mutual fund industry is the notion of embracing new technologies, including blogging, instant messaging, chat rooms, webcasts, podcasts, websites tailored for each individual...

Executive Moves.(promotion of Foss, Edward.S)
November 5, 2007... Federated's Quant Division Promotes Foss, Heaton MDT Advisers, a subsidiary of Federated Investors that specializes in quantitative investing and has $8.8 billion in assets under management, has promoted Edward S. Foss to chief operating...

Week in Review.
November 5, 2007... ICI Warns Against 401(k) Fee Disclosure Overload Bush Administration officials, pension plans and financial services firms joined the Investment Company Institute last week in testifying before Congress on how breaking out the various fees...

Confluence Enters Post-Trade Compliance Field.
November 5, 2007... Fund executives shopping for post-trade compliance systems have a new vendor to consider. Confluence launched its Unity Post-Trade Compliance product for fund administrators at The National Investment Company Service Association's...

Emerging Markets Funds Expand to New Frontiers.
November 5, 2007... As international markets continue to dramatically outperform those in the United States, money is moving to more exotic regions. T. Rowe Price garnered attention with its recent unveiling of an Africa & Middle East Fund. Plus, more...

Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Muni Bonds.
November 12, 2007... The Supreme Court heard arguments last week in a case seeking to eliminate a state's right to issue tax-free municipal bonds for paper concerning its own state, but to tax out-of-state municipal bonds. A Kentucky court ruled out the...

Hedge Group Issues Best Practices'.
November 12, 2007... The self-policing efforts of the $1.8 trillion hedge fund industry took a step forward with last week's release of the Managed Funds Association's guidelines for best practices in the industry. "The updated guidance is the cornerstone of...

SEC May Allow Exemptions via the Net.
November 12, 2007... The digital age continues to make inroads at the Securities and Exchange Commission, as the SEC said on Nov. 2 it is considering a plan to permit fund managers to file applications for exemptive relief, or variances from agency procedures, over...

SEC Likely to Revisit Prospectus Profiles.
November 12, 2007... After more than a decade of fits and starts for prospectus profiles, it appears that both the mutual fund industry and the Securities and Exchange Commission are finally comfortable with the idea. More than 90% of mutual fund providers...

Could Credit Card Debt Be Next $950B Blowup?
November 12, 2007... Amid the sobering talk of a possible recession, there were two pieces of news last week that are cause for additional consternation. First, bond guru Bill Gross of Pimco warned that the subprime crisis could linger for another two years, wiping...

Executive Moves.
November 12, 2007... Bank of America Names Jones Head of Columbia Bank of America has continued its recent wave of executive reorganization by promoting Michael A. Jones to lead mutual fund division Columbia Management. Last month, the bank named Brian...

Week in Review.
November 12, 2007... Funds to Embrace More Elaborate Investments While one of the big trends in the mutual fund industry has been its embracement of sophisticated alternative investments, mutual funds and hedge funds alike are about to become even more complex...

Question & Answer.
November 12, 2007... ProShare on a $9 Billion Roll But Facing New Competition In June of 2006, ProShare Advisors of Bethesda, Md., the sister organization to the ProFunds family of mutual funds, broke new ground in the exchange-traded fund (ETF) marketplace...

FINRA Ad Campaign Aims To Educate Baby Boomers.
November 19, 2007... While the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has spearheaded a number of investor educational programs, it has launched the first one aimed specifically at Boomers, aimed at helping them better understand investing options and avoid...

Mutual Funds to Mimic Hedge Strategies: But for Now, Suprime Crisis Could Dampen Convergence.
November 19, 2007... Predictions that the mutual fund industry will embrace elaborate alternative strategies, driven in part by European regulatory changes, may be a bit preliminary, according to some state-side asset management executives. The argument,...

Asia Fund Growth to be Exponential.
November 19, 2007... The strongest growth in the investment management industry will not be in the United States but in Asia. That's according to two recent reports extolling the potential of Asian markets. Fund assets in Asia could grow five-fold over the next...

Funds Choose More Independent Directors: But Many Prefer Option, Not Requirement.
November 19, 2007... The growing number of independent directors on mutual fund boards has renewed the debate over whether industry best practices should become mandatory, but few believe any regulatory action will be taken soon. In 2006, the vast majority...

Spitzer Troopergate Probe Appears to be Widening.
November 19, 2007... Let's be realistic about New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, a man many in the mutual fund industry detest for launching the timing and late-trading investigations. Facing resistance in his efforts to reform Albany, it is entirely feasible...

Week in Review.(Survey)
November 19, 2007... Donohue Urges Directors To Focus on Fair Value Speaking before the Investment Company Directors Conference, Andrew J. Donohue, director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's investment management division, called on directors to be...

Executive Moves.
November 19, 2007... Eaton Vance Appoints Swaffield to Key Position: Income Investment Officer Eaton Vance has selected Payson F. Swaffield as chief income investment officer, a new position at the company that will have him overseeing all fixed-income and...

Old Mutual Ads Aim at Making Company a Household Name.
November 19, 2007... Old Mutual may have a strong presence in the financial services industry, but ask the average American about the 162-year-old company with $491 billion in assets under management, and they're likely to answer "old what?" Old Mutual is...

Only 13% of Small Employers Offer 401(k)s.
November 26, 2007... Employers and employees at small businesses don't see eye to eye when it comes to 401(k)s, according to a Harris Interactive survey commissioned by ShareBuilder Advisors, a 401(k) administrator that specializes in serving small companies. ...

Valuation Key Focus of SEC CCOutreach.(Chief compliance officers)(Securities and Exchange Commission )
November 26, 2007... Chief compliance officers should make the valuation of distressed securities their No. 1 priority, Andrew J. Donohue, director of the division of investment management at the Securities and Exchange Commission advised at last week's national...

Hedgies Beat Long-Onlys on Research.
November 26, 2007... Despite signs that mutual funds and hedge funds are converging, long-only mutual funds are slackers compared to hedge funds when it comes to using external research. This is one of the conclusions of a study released by Integrity Research...

SEC Proposal for Prospectus Profiles Would Move Funds into Digital Age.(Securities and Exchange Commission)
November 26, 2007... The Securities and Exchange Commission continues to recognize the growing influence of the Internet on the mutual fund industry by giving investors greater access to financial information online. Most recently, the SEC approved a proposal...

Editor's Desk: Fear of Elimination of Social Security Could Boost Mutual Fund Flows.
November 26, 2007... Let's hope Social Security remains a fixture on the American scene. There are too many senior citizens dependent on it, and with $1 million seeming to be the magic retirement savings goal, a vast majority are going to fall far short of that. In...

Executive Moves.
November 26, 2007... Legg Expects to Announce New Chief Executive Soon; Says Search is Progressing Legg Mason Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Raymond "Chip" Mason said the firm expects to announce its new chief executive officer in the "reasonably near...

Week in Review.
November 26, 2007... After Two Month Suspension, China Again Approving Mutual Funds China regulators put new mutual fund offerings on the back burner over the past two months in an attempt to cool down what appears to be an overheated market, but have just...

Question & Answer.(dialogue with Ann Bergin)(Interview)
November 26, 2007... DTCC's Managed Account Service Ready to Roll It's been years in the making, but the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.'s managed account service, which will become the centralized gateway for communications of managed account data between...

Fund Managers Foresee Subprime Crisis Blowing Over.
November 26, 2007... NEW YORK-While the subprime crisis battered the stock market in the third quarter and the fourth quarter isn't expected to be any better, mutual fund portfolio managers and analysts believe the credit market turmoil will blow over. They spoke...