Money Management Executive articles from October 2007

Money Management Executive archives from October 2007

SEC Charges Five With Placing $268M Late Trades.
October 1, 2007... The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged five former portfolio managers of two registered investment advisory firms, LP Advisors and Freedom Capital, with allowing hedge fund clients to late trade mutual funds in 2002 and 2003. The...

Retirement Income: A Work in Progress: Experts Advise New Approach to Retirement Income.
October 1, 2007... Retirement income is one of the most critical trends in the mutual fund industry right now-and yet, experts say few firms are getting it right. Rather than relying on the traditional risk/return tools used in the accumulation phase, fund...

Turner Investment Partners Files for IPO; But With Investors Skittish, Timing Could be Bad.
October 1, 2007... Berwyn, Pa., may be a couple of hours drive south of Wall Street, but Turner Investment Partners is hoping to dive right into the nation's financial hub with the preliminary filing of documents for its intended initial public offering on the...

Investment Surveys May Not Speak Truth: Accuracy of Methodologies in Question.
October 1, 2007... If there is one industry that is known for issuing surveys, it's the mutual fund industry. Every week, mutual funds and other investment firms issue multiple surveys about investors' attitudes toward savings and preparedness for...

Hedge Fund Best Practices Step in the Right Direction.
October 1, 2007... The President's Working Group on Financial Markets will form two private-sector groups to develop best practices for the hedge fund industry, and while it comes far short of requiring hedge funds to register with the Securities and Exchange...

Executive Moves.(Randall Lee appointed by Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering)
October 1, 2007... Randall Lee to Head Up Wilmer Cutler L.A. Office Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr has snagged Randall Lee, the former Los Angeles regional director for the Securities and Exchange Commission, as the lead partner for its first office in...

Week in Review.
October 1, 2007... Ex-Brean Murray EVPs Charged with Late Trading The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged two former executive vice presidents with Brean Murray with placing late trades for a number of clients, including Canary Capital. ...

Aberdeen Scoops Up $7B Equity Team From Nationwide.
October 1, 2007... Aberdeen Asset Management of Aberdeen, Scotland, may not be a household name, but as of today, Oct., 1, the firm's Philadelphia-based U.S. subsidiary has a fresh $7 billion chunk of 30 sub-advised mutual funds and variable annuity trust assets...

Risk Management Key to Hedge Funds' Success.
October 1, 2007... The hedge fund market is set to continue its rapid growth as institutions, under pressure to demonstrate more clearly that they can meet their future obligations, seek alternative investment products that deliver strong returns. However,...

Mutuals.com Settles With SEC Over Market Timing.
October 8, 2007... The Securities and Exchange Commission has settled its lawsuit against Mutuals.com and two related investment advisors, Connely Dowd Management and MTT Fundcorp, along with the firms' three principals, Richard Sapio, Eric McDonald and Michele...

Investors Fear Curbs on Voting Rights: Holy Grail' of Governance Reform Hangs in the Balance.
October 8, 2007... Investors large and small have weighed in on two Securities and Exchange Commission proposals dealing with shareholders' rights to nominate directors to company boards. With the comment period ended last Tuesday, many now say they fear their...

Advisors Fined for Improper Disclosure: Failed to Denote Distributions Came From Capital.
October 8, 2007... Four fund firms that manage closed-end funds were sanctioned and fined a collective $1.7 million on Sept. 28 by the Securities and Exchange Commission for not properly disclosing the true nature of shareholder distributions made under their...

Roadblocks Ahead for Auto Enroll? Default Choices, Higher Costs Give Some Sponsors Pause.
October 8, 2007... Automatic enrollment and automatic escalation will be the two most significant developments of defined contribution plans over the next three years, according to 401(k) plan advisers polled by Putnam Investments. If even just the 66% of...

The Never-Ending Fund Trading Scandal.
October 8, 2007... Fines, being barred from the industry and even facing years behind bars evidently won't deter some market timers looking for a quick, sure buck. Sixty-nine percent of fund directors and 55% of fund executives say some investors will...

Executive Moves.
October 8, 2007... Lyons Becomes Director On Morningstar Board William M. Lyons, the former president and chief executive officer of American Century Investments, has joined the board of directors of Morningstar and will also sit on the audit committee. ...

Operations a Concern as Hedge Funds Expand Globally.
October 8, 2007... As smaller hedge funds increasingly expand into foreign countries, they must pay as much attention to building solid operational infrastructure as they do to chasing alpha. Although grappling with such infrastructure may be the last thing...

Fidelity Launches New Retirement Income Solution.
October 8, 2007... Determined to carve out its stake in the coming Baby Boomer retirement rush hour, Fidelity Investments of Boston has just unveiled a pair of brand new retirement income solutions designed to work together or separately. The products-a family of...

Sound Governance Boosts Mutual Fund Performance.
October 8, 2007... Amid research that mutual funds with good Morningstar stewardship grades tend to outperform funds with poor Stewardship grades, Morningstar has toughened those grades. Morningstar has just released new stewardship grades for more than 1,000...

SEC Stepping Up Probes Of Hedge Fund Trades.(Securities and Exchange Commission)
October 8, 2007... Speaking at a hedge fund conference in Greenwich, Conn., Securities and Exchange Commission regulators indicated that they are conducting 30 investigations into hedge fund trading in the Northeast alone, Reuters reports. The SEC is...

Three Former Janus Execs Stand Trial for Timing.
October 15, 2007... Although it has been three years since Janus paid $226 million to settle market-timing charges, the Securities and Exchange Commission has taken three former Janus executives, Warren Lammert, Lars Soderberg and Lance Newcomb, to trial in Denver...

WisdomTree DC Platform Handles Both ETFs and Mutual Funds: Industry's Early Attempts at ETF-Only Plans Met Resistance.
October 15, 2007... WisdomTree Retirement Services, a unit of WisdomTree Investments of New York, is the latest firm to launch a platform designed for the 401(k) market that offers plan sponsors a combination of ETFs and mutual funds, or a selection of all ETFs...

Pioneer Expands into India, Russia.(growth and diversification of Pioneer Investment Management Inc.)
October 15, 2007... Pioneer Investments of Boston has undertaken a global initiative to bring its investment management capabilities to the developing markets of India and Russia. The goal is to be among the top five players in those two markets in three years....

AIG Brand Campaign Moves Online.
October 15, 2007... Los Angeles-based AIG Retirement Services launched a new online phase of its first national brand advertising campaign on Oct. 1. AIG, best known for insurance, partnered with Bankrate of North Palm Beach, Fla., to take the lead advertising...

Intrepid Fund Managers Seek Truly New Frontiers'.
October 15, 2007... It isn't often that mutual fund firms launch remarkable, truly unique new products. Certainly, exchange-traded, lifecycle, 130/30 and emerging-market funds have been among the most significant and popular offerings in recent years. Earlier...

Executive Moves.(John V. Murphy appointed as chairman by Investment Company Institute)
October 15, 2007... OppenheimerFunds CEO Murphy Now ICI Chairman The Investment Company Institute's board of governors has elected John V. Murphy, chairman and chief executive officer of OppenheimerFunds, chairman of the ICI. He succeeds Martin L. Flanagan,...

Week in Review.
October 15, 2007... Funds With Structured Products Turn to Fair Value The just-released annual report of the Regions Morgan Keegan Select High Income Fund and the Regions Morgan Keegan Select Intermediate Bond Fund indicate that funds with subprime...

Retirement Websites Missing the Mark: Fail to Offer Online Account Setup, Prompt Investors Into Action.
October 15, 2007... Websites of financial services companies offering retirement information are often more frustrating than helpful to consumers, according to a study by a group of website researchers. The analysis, by Change Sciences Group of New York,...

MFS Thinking Long-Term with Alternative Investment Unit.(MFS Investments )
October 15, 2007... In joining the parade of mainstream wealth managers starting alternative investments units, MFS Investments of Boston is making a long-term commitment to giving its institutional investors access to emerging hedge fund managers. The fund...

Blacks' Retirement Savings Less Than Half of Whites'.
October 22, 2007... When Charles Schwab and Ariel Mutual Funds conducted their first annual Black Investor Survey at the premier Ariel-Schwab Black Investor Summit a decade ago, 57% of Blacks said they owned stocks or mutual funds. Today, that number remains the...

SEC Won't Let Up On Compliance: SEI: Non-Public Information, Soft Dollars on Radar.
October 22, 2007... Like death and taxes for the rest of us, Securities and Exchange Commission oversight will always be a concern for the mutual fund industry. A report by consultantcy SEI of Oaks, Pa., warns that there are ominous indicators of increased...

Swedish Export Registers $1 Billion In New Exchange-Traded Notes.
October 22, 2007... Swedish Export Credit Corp., a Stockholm, Sweden-based state-owned firm, is gearing up to participate in an offering of as much as $1 billion in four new exchange-traded notes (ETNs) that will track to four lesser-known commodity indexes. ...

Barclays Pursues Company Match Market: Aims to Give Investors More Bang for Their Employer's Buck.
October 22, 2007... While most 401(k) investors hardly give a thought to employer matches-and even employers usually don't promote them heavily to employees-an innovative investment solution from Barclays Global Investors of San Francisco specifically designed for...

As European Hedge Funds Look to Self-Police, Best Practices in the U.S. Likely.
October 22, 2007... Hedge funds in Europe have just proposed that they self-police, in an attempt to ward off regulation. They are offering to volunteer information about their holdings, risk management, governance and valuation techniques. This makes it all...

Executive Moves.(Claire Huang resigning from Fidelity)
October 22, 2007... Fidelity Advertising Chief Huang to Step Down Fidelity Director of Advertising Claire Huang will be leaving the company by the end of the year. Some believe that this development, combined with the recent appointment of Sanjiv Mirchandani...

Week in Review.(research of financial services)
October 22, 2007... Backlog of Cases Puts SEC's Future in Question With a backlog of mutual fund and hedge fund cases at the Securities and Exchange Commission, the departure of two Democratic commissioners and SEC Chairman Christopher Cox's unusual vote in...

Retirement Income Planning Expected to Skyrocket.
October 22, 2007... As the 77 million Baby Boomers begin to retire, the market for helping them manage their retirement income will begin to boom as well. Millions of retirees will be looking for financial advice and will likely turn to their local banks first,...

Even Greater Role Seen for Alternatives in Mutual Funds.
October 22, 2007... Mutual fund managers have been increasingly gravitating toward alternative investments as a way to boost returns and compete with hedge funds. By some estimates, alternative investment funds could soon account for as much as 10% of assets in...

ICI Applauds DOL's 401(k) Default Choices.
October 29, 2007... The Department of Labor has decided not to include stable-value funds as one of its recommended default options for 401(k) plans under the Pension Protection Act. Instead, the DOL is advocating balanced funds, lifecycle funds and a...

Fund Companies Embrace Web 2.0: Many Using Podcasts, Streaming Video, Blogs.
October 29, 2007... LAS VEGAS-Fund companies are using new Web 2.0 technologies and customer relationship management (CRM) software to leverage relationships with financial advisers, according to experts at The National Investment Company Service Association...

Operational Risk Among SEC Concerns.
October 29, 2007... WASHINGTON-The Securities and Exchange Commission is interested in reducing mutual fund operational risk, improving disclosure and helping boards better assess soft dollars, according to Andrew J. Donohue, director of the division of investment...

Emerging Markets Changing the World: Fund Firms Urged to Go Truly Global.
October 29, 2007... WASHINGTON-The offshoring of complex, "knowledge-based" functions, coupled with the explosion of wealth and urbanization in emerging markets, demands that fund companies go truly global. That means not only increasing outsourcing but also...

Harrington Reemerges to Speak About Fund Scandal & Source of Her Courage.(Noreen Harrington)
October 29, 2007... It's been four years since Noreen Harrington has appeared on the scene, but she recently spoke before an industry group on why she blew the whistle on the market timing and late trading at Canary Capital, setting off the shocking scandal that...

Executive Moves.
October 29, 2007... Noyes Joins Diversified Investment Advisors as VP William Noyes has joined Diversified Investment Advisors, an investment advisory firm specializing in retirement plans, as vice president, client investment services. He comes to the...

Week in Review.
October 29, 2007... Mass. Investigating Failed Bear Stearns Hedge Funds Massachusetts' securities regulator has joined other regulators in investigating whether executives at Bear Stearns traded at fair prices in the two hedge funds that recently failed,...

NASDAQ Launches Push to Attract ETF Listings.
October 29, 2007... Earlier this month, Nasdaq launched its official entry into the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) listing competition by rolling out its official, proprietary ETF marketplace. Nasdaq is hoping to lure ETF listings away from the American Stock...

Firms' Independence Key to Entrepreneurial Spirit.
October 29, 2007... As the asset management industry undergoes a period of restructuring and realignment, independence is emerging as an important strategic asset when it comes to gathering assets, building a brand and attracting and retaining employees. ...

Buy-Side Research Goes High Tech.
October 29, 2007... With buy-side firms turning to increasingly complex instruments, embracing independent research and beginning to aggregate information through open-system, web-based tools-technology spending to support research is set to go through the roof....