Money Management Executive articles from October 2004

Money Management Executive archives from October 2004

TD Waterhouse Settles for $2M for Advisor Payments.
October 4, 2004... In a year filled with securities industry scandals and settlements, the Securities and Exchange Commission has uncovered a new source of potential conflicts of interest. It could be yet another reason to expand the already overwhelming number...

BoA to Consolidate Wealth, Investment Units in Boston.(BankAmerica Corp.)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Bank of America will shift 10 of its top executives to Boston as part of a consolidation of its wealth and investment management divisions into that city. The Charlotte, N.C.-based company had already moved the leader of the division, Brian...

Morningstar Data Mix-Up Prompts Probe: SEC Mulling Charges Amid Firm's IPO Push.(Securities and Exchange Commission)
October 4, 2004... Having watched a number of mutual fund companies mishandle inquiries from securities regulators for the past 12 months, fund-tracking firm Morningstar knew what to do when faced with its own brush with the law. The Chicago-based research...

House Panel Approves GI Protection Bill: Moves to Ban On-Post' Fund, Insurance Sales.
October 4, 2004... A new bill banning the sale of a certain type of mutual fund on military bases drew unanimous support from a House panel Wednesday, as lawmakers look to protect young American troops from shady sales practices and ill-suited investment...

Small Funds Tough Out New Regulations.
October 4, 2004... Dire prognostications that the slew of new strict and costly regulatory requirements will drive small-fund managers to bail out from the mutual fund business in droves, have not materialized. At least not yet. But new rules have caused advisors...

NASD 529 Probe Deepens Due to Out-of-State Sales.(National Association of Securities Dealers)
October 4, 2004... The National Association of Securities Dealers has widened its inquiry into sales of 529 plans by investment advisors and brokers, more than tripling the number of firms under scrutiny to 20. The regulator began its fact-finding investigation...

Executive Moves.
October 4, 2004... Wilmington Announces Expansion, New Hires The New York office of Wilmington Trust will expand in response to what the company calls an "increasing demand" for its financial planning and open-architecture investment capabilities in the...

Funds Seek Guidance on Investment Disclosure, Fair Value.
October 4, 2004... As significant federal regulation passed earlier this year begins to take effect, industry professionals are seeking greater guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission on specific reporting mandates and examining the benefits of...

Increased Industry Scrutiny no Reason to Avoid Press.(Interview)
October 4, 2004... MME: The financial sector has always had a guarded approach to speaking with the press, but you say firms have been unusually shy of the media as of late. How do you explain this trend? Sondhelm: When it comes to mutual fund managers, yes...

Ontario Finds No Timing By First Four Fund Firms, But Probe Still Continues.(Ontario Securities Commission )(Brief Article)
October 11, 2004... In its initial probe of four top Canadian mutual fund firms, the Ontario Securities Commission announced that market timing did not take place. The OSC also investigated CI Mutual Funds, AIC Ltd., AGF Fund Management and Investors Group for...

Invesco Lays Off 26 Execs At Denver Tech Center.(Brief Article)
October 11, 2004... Amvescap continues to phase out the Invesco brand, as it recently cut 26 jobs, including four fund managers, at the beleaguered fund shop's offices at the Denver Tech Center. Invesco Health Sciences Fund manager Thomas Wald and Invesco...

J.P. Morgan, Lehman Sued For Aiding Canary Capital.(Brief Article)
October 11, 2004... J.P. Morgan Chase and Lehman Brothers Holdings have been charged in a class-action lawsuit for helping hedge fund Canary Capital Partners engage in trading violations that harmed long-term shareholders. Until the lawsuit, both J.P. Morgan and...

Questions Abound About New SEC Regs: Market Timing Yet to be Clearly Defined.(Securities and Exchange Commission)
October 11, 2004... SAN ANTONIO - The Investment Company Institute held its annual Tax & Accounting conference in 2003, just nine days after the scandal broke last year amid a cloud of controversy and confusion and long before the full scope of Fundgate would be...

Pilgrim Baxter Boasts New Brand: Liberty Ridge Capital to Advise PBHG Funds.
October 11, 2004... Necessity is the mother of invention, the old adage insists, and with improprieties abounding in the mutual fund industry, more and more firms are finding they need to forge new identities. Pilgrim Baxter & Associates, one of the poster...

Calamos IPO Priced Amid Tough Conditions.(Calamos Asset Management's initial public offering )
October 11, 2004... After 27 years, the Calamos family decided to share the fruits of their labor by taking the firm public. Money manager Calamos Asset Management has set the terms of its initial public offering at 18 million Class A shares with an estimated...

News Flash- SEC Charges RS, Execs For Market Timing Funds; Firm Settles for $30M.(Securities and Exchange Commission, RS Investment Management)
October 11, 2004... The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged RS Investment Management, CEO Randall Hecht and Steven Cohen, former chief financial officer, with allowing certain mutual fund investors to market time the firm's funds. These investors...

Executive Moves.
October 11, 2004... TCW Galileo Funds Names Haden Independent Chair Patrick C. Haden, who has served as a director of the TCW Galileo Funds since May 2001, has been named independent chairman of the fund's board, replacing Marc I. Stern. Stern will remain...

Documenting Fair Value Key to Avoiding Extra Scrutiny.
October 11, 2004... SAN ANTONIO - As new governance requirements officially took effect last week, panelists here at the Investment Company Institute's Tax & Accounting Conference said the proper valuation of securities and the monitoring of such processes will be...

CGM Funds Build In Trustee Protections.(Capital Growth Management )
October 11, 2004... CGM Funds of Boston, managed by Capital Growth Management and its two well-known senior executives and company co-founders Ken Heebner and Bob Kemp, are trying to make certain that all fund board trustees are created equal-no matter what...

NASD Fines Sentinel $700K for Market Timing.(National Association of Securities Dealers, Sentinel Financial Services Co.)(Brief Article)
October 18, 2004... The National Association of Securities Dealers has fined Sentinel Financial Services Co. $700,000 and censured it for not doing enough to stop market timing in its funds. The market timing, which took place in three Sentinel Group funds, was...

SEC Turns Attention to Performance-Fee Pricing.(Securities and Exchange Commission)(Brief Article)
October 18, 2004... Three mutual funds have reportedly drawn the Securities and Exchange Commission's ire for alleged violations resembling the accounting sins committed by Bridgeway Capital Management. The SEC is now targeting the Putnam Research, Gartmore U.S....

SEC May Back Off Setting Mandatory Redemption Fee.(Securities and Exchange Commission )(Brief Article)
October 18, 2004... The Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly reconsidering its proposal to require funds to impose a 2% redemption fee on shares sold within five days of purchase. Of the 280 comment letters the SEC has received on this proposal, 250...

Janus Capital's Assets Rise Nearly 2%: Is the Firm Headed for a Comeback?(Janus Capital Group Inc.)
October 18, 2004... At Janus Capital Group of Denver, September wasn't such a bad month. But folks there may not be breaking out the fluted champagne glasses - yet. After a brutal bear market that wrought havoc on the tech-heavy firm, and then the fund scandal,...

Amvescap Affiliates Finalize Settlement: $451.5 Million Mistake Prompts Dramatic' Reform.(AIM Investments)(INVESCO Funds Group Inc.)
October 18, 2004... It's official. State and federal regulators have announced the final terms of a $451.5 million settlement over allegations that the now extinct Invesco Funds Group and its sister company AIM Investments engaged in abusive trading...

Vanguard, Fidelity Make Hall of Shame.(Fidelity Investments)(Vanguard 500 Index Fund)
October 18, 2004... Fidelity and Vanguard may have avoided the stench of recent scandals, but they couldn't escape the ire of one investment adviser or his quarterly Hall of Shame listing the worst mutual funds in the country. The Fidelity Destiny 1 fund and the...

Bear Stearns Scans E-Mails In Internal Timing Probe.(Bear Stearns Companies Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 18, 2004... Bear Stearns is reportedly investigating whether top executives in its private-client brokerage unit approved improper mutual fund trades. According to internal documents, Bear Stearns is examining e-mails from 109 of its employees, including...

T. Rowe Exec Now Chair Of ICI, Succeeding Haaga.(Investment Company Institute)(T. Rowe Price Mutual Funds)(Paul G. Haaga)(Brief Article)
October 18, 2004... T. Rowe Price Vice Chairman James S. Riepe has been named chairman of the Investment Company Institute, succeeding Paul G. Haaga, Jr., EVP of Capital Research and Management Co. Haaga, who served two one-year terms, will continue as vice...

Wholesaler Compensation Rose 5.9% in 2003: DGL.(Brief Article)
October 18, 2004... The increases in compensation for wholesalers of mutual funds, annuities, retirement services and other investment products nearly doubled from 2002 to 2003, according to a recent survey by DGL Consultants. DGL found that after a 3% increase in...

Executive Moves.
October 18, 2004... Transamerica Hires Skipper For Large-Growth Products Citing a boom in its assets under management, Transamerica Investment Management has hired Christopher M. Ericksen as a portfolio manager. Ericksen, who will report to Jeff Van...

401(k) Assets Up, But Contribution Rates Still Low.
October 18, 2004... With so many surveys reiterating Americans' lack of preparedness for retirement, it's certainly good news that assets in 401(k) plans are finally growing again. However, that's primarily because the stock market performed so well in 2003, not...

Lipper Sees Strong Fourth Quarter Ahead: Tech to Stay Soft, Natural Resources Roll.
October 18, 2004... For equity mutual funds, the fiscal third quarter yielded mixed results in terms of performance, but conditions are expected to improve as investors look for a fresh start heading into the new year. Fund research firm Lipper of New York...

Colony Fund to Boldly Go Where No Fund Has Gone Before.(Interview)
October 18, 2004... Thomas A. Olson is CEO and founding partner of the Colony Fund, a new mutual fund designed to include smaller investors in the private sector's push into space. The fund, still in pre-SEC registration mode, seeks to invest in commercial space...

Managed Accounts Going Down-Market in 401(k)s.
October 25, 2004... Many providers of separately managed accounts are beginning to pitch their wares to 401(k) sponsors, touting their personalization as a way of boosting participation and savings rates. Don Salama, managing director of marketing and sales at...

Proposals Fail to Fix Portfolio Cost Inequality.
October 25, 2004... Who says there is no such thing as a free lunch? While regulators are pushing to clean up the fund industry, some short-term shareholders are continuing to eat away at returns of other investors by driving up costs and benefiting from an...

Probe at Parent Another Woe for Putnam.
October 25, 2004... Marsh & McLennan is under the regulatory gun again, and although the new probe is not related to business at its mutual fund unit, Putnam Investments is sure to suffer some fallout, industry experts say. This time around, New York Attorney...

SMA Bigs Look to Improve Profitability: MMI Confab Addresses Industry Challenges.(separately managed account )
October 25, 2004... NEW YORK - With roughly $600 billion in assets under management, the separately managed account business continues to grow exponentially as members of the adviser community become more and more comfortable with how these nuanced investment...

SEC Investigates TradesAt FMI Mutual Funds.(Securities and Exchange Commission )(Brief Article)
October 25, 2004... The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating FMI Mutual Funds for possible improper trading practices, the company indicated in a regulatory filing. FMI disclosed that the Commission has opened an informal probe into a 2002 security...

Justice Department Probes A.G. Edwards for Timing.(Brief Article)
October 25, 2004... Brokerage firm A.G. Edwards announced that the Justice Department is looking into possible improper trades at the company. While the brokerage firm did not go into specifics or indicate whether it has been subpoenaed, it did admit that it could...

A.G. Edwards Sees Impact Of Directed-Brokerage Ban.(finance)(Brief Article)
October 25, 2004... A.G. Edwards indicated in an SEC filing that it expects its revenue to decline as a result of the ban on directed brokerage by mutual fund companies. The firm did not disclose, however, how much of a decline it expects, although it did say that...

SEC Subpoenas Gabelli.(Securities and Exchange Commission, Gabelli Asset Management )(Brief Article)
October 25, 2004... The Securities and Exchange Commission has subpoenaed Gabelli Asset Management for possible improper trading, the company indicated in an SEC filing. Last October, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer filed a subpoena against Gabelli, which...

Executive Moves.
October 25, 2004... Keefe, Finucane Return To John Hancock Funds John Hancock Funds has hired Timothy Keefe as chief equity officer and Thomas Finucane as a portfolio manager. For both men, the new positions represent a second go-around with the Manulife...

More Women Tune Into Retirement Needs.
October 25, 2004... What do we want? Advice! When do we want it? Now! Even without waving placards or burning bras, American women are sending the message that they need help planning for retirement yet don't know how to go about it, according to a recent...

Vanguard Cuts Fees on Six Nevada 529 Funds.
October 25, 2004... Saving for college in the state of Nevada just got a little cheaper. The Silver State's 529 college savings program has slashed annual fees on six of its 17 investment portfolios sold directly to investors through Vanguard. Effective...

Federal Judge Denies Chamber's Appeal on Independent Chairmen.(Brief Article)
October 25, 2004... A federal appeals court has denied a request by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to delay new rules requiring mutual funds to have independent chairmen. The world's largest business group had launched a campaign to postpone more stringent...