Money Management Executive articles from September 2004

Money Management Executive archives from September 2004

RBC Dain Rauscher Touts Unified Managed Account.
September 13, 2004... RBC Dain Rauscher hopes a new unified managed account platform will help it target mass-affluent customers with services once reserved for the ultra-wealthy. The firm is looking to serve people with $250,000 to $500,000 to invest, thereby...

Settlement Costs Invesco, AIM $451M.
September 13, 2004... Amvescap, the London-based parent of Invesco Funds and AIM Advisors, said last week it has agreed to a $451 million settlement with several regulators, including $75 million in reduced fees, to resolve charges of improper trading activity by...

One Year Later, Brands Are Disappearing: Scandal Takes Its Toll on Industry Names.(Fundgate)
September 13, 2004... What a difference a year makes. On Sept. 2, 2003, one day before Eliot Spitzer's famous press conference on Canary Capital, the thought of a slew of high-profile, highly respected fund names disappearing during the ensuing 12 months was...

Building a Winning SMA Partnership: Franklin Games Manager Search, Due Diligence.(separately managed account)
September 13, 2004... When building a separately managed account platform, one of the most crucial and often painstaking steps is conducting a manager search and executing the due diligence process. On a very base level, the financial services industry is like...

Scandal Fails to Rattle Investors: Dalbar Survey.(Brief Article)
September 13, 2004... Even after an entire year of headlines about the mutual fund scandal, most investors are ignorant of the regulatory probes. Of 744 mutual fund investors that Dalbar recently surveyed on behalf of Reuters, 75% were unable to name a single firm...

Baby Boomers May Bust Economy, Greenspan Warns.(Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan)(Brief Article)
September 13, 2004... Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, speaking before the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, recently gave some suggestions on how to keep the Social Security and Medicare systems solvent. The well-known expected shortfalls in the...

Executive Moves.
September 13, 2004... Third Avenue Taps Dugan As New Financial Chief Third Avenue Management has named former Arthur Andersen partner Vincent J. Dugan as its new COO and CFO. Dugan has been involved with Third Avenue from afar, as he used to audit some of...

U.S. Chamber Sues SEC Over Independent Chairman Rule.(Securities and Exchange Commission)
September 13, 2004... After months of tossing a string of new rules and regulations at mutual fund advisors, the Securities and Exchange Commission has suddenly found itself playing defense in a unusual lawsuit being driven by staunch members of the mutual fund...

Fund Critic Issues Proxy Report Card: Putnam, Fidelity Receive Poor Marks.
September 13, 2004... The advent of mutual fund proxy voting disclosure has brought executive compensation abuse under greater scrutiny and further emboldened the nation's largest labor union to take aim at the biggest names in the asset management business. ...

SEC Comes Down Hard on Directed-Brokerage Pacts.(Securities and Exchange Commission)(meshed briefs)(Providence Group Investment Advisory Co., Providence, Rhode Island)
September 20, 2004... The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued an adopting release that formalizes an amendment to Rule 12b-1 that prohibits funds from selecting broker/dealers for portfolio transactions based upon their sales of mutual funds. Fund...

PIMCO Affiliates Fined $50M for Fraud: SEC Mandates Rigorous Oversight Reforms.(Securities and Exchange Commission)(Pacific Investment Management Company affiliates PA Fund Management, PEA Capital and PA Distributors)
September 20, 2004... Three firms affiliated with PIMCO equity funds agreed to pay $50 million to settle fraud charges related to a market-timing scheme that bilked long-term shareholders. As part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission...

Schwab Fined $350K in Late-Trade Charge.(Charles Schwab & Co.)
September 20, 2004... Charles Schwab & Co. agreed last Tuesday to pay $350,000 to settle charges that it improperly permitted investment advisor customers to alter mutual fund orders after the closing bell. The San Francisco-based broker/dealer is accused of...

NASAA Referees 12b-1 Debate: Industry Pros Mull Distribution Fixes.(North American Securities Administrators Association)(extra fee charged by mutual funds to cover promotion, distributions, marketing expenses)(Panel Discussion)
September 20, 2004... NEW YORK - Using 12b-1 fees to pay brokers for selling mutual funds has morphed the fund business into a massive marketing machine, a development that has sparked controversy over the best way for fund companies to finance distribution. In...

Janus Assets Now at $128B.(Janus Capital Group Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 20, 2004... Janus Capital revealed that its assets under management dropped 0.9% in August to $127.8 billion from $129 billion at the end of July. The Denver-based shop has been bleeding assets at an alarming rate after its tech-heavy growth funds...

SEC Unfazed by Lawsuit By U.S. Commerce Group.(Securities and Exchange Commission)(Brief Article)
September 20, 2004... The Securities and Exchange Commission said it would forge ahead with a new rule effective January 2006 requiring 75% of mutual fund boards to be comprised of independent directors and overseen by an independent chairman. The U.S. Chamber of...

Evergreen Salespeople Get Wireless CRM From Pyxis.(customer relationship management)(Pyxis mWholesaler wireless interface)(Brief Article)
September 20, 2004... Evergreen Investments, the asset management division of Wachovia Bank, plans to start using the the mWholesaler wireless interface from Pyxis Software to give sales managers instant access to critical customer relationship management...

Executive Moves.
September 20, 2004... Putnam's Shadek to Lead New Small-Cap Division Putnam Investments announced that CIO and small-cap value fund leader Edward Shadek will lead the firm's new small-cap division as it reorganizes some of its stock-picking units to try and...

The Many Faces of M&A In the Asset Management Business.(mergers and ascquisitions)
September 20, 2004... Traditional mergers and acquisitions among asset management companies may be a bit passe these days. Affiliated marketing partnerships, revenue and equity sharing deals and sub-advisory adoptions are definitely in vogue, right alongside the...

Putnam Commits to New Reforms Urged by Calif.(meshed briefs)
September 27, 2004... Putnam Investments on Thursday made a "groundbreaking commitment" to provide retail investors much of the same information institutional clients often demand, according to an announcement by the firm, the California State Treasurer, and pension...

Timing Scandal Hits North of the Border.
September 27, 2004... Canadian regulators announced potential enforcement proceedings against four of the largest Canadian mutual fund companies last week, as the fund industry market-timing scandal expanded north of the border. The Ontario Securities Commission...

Calugar Deal Bites Franklin Again: Firm Settles For $5M With Massachusetts Over Arrangement.(office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts)
September 27, 2004... Daniel Calugar strikes again. If there is one name you don't want in your client book of business, aside from Eddie Stern, it is Calugar's. For the second time this summer, Franklin Resources has paid for its dealing with the mysterious Las...

SMAs Face Stiffer Regulatory Scrutiny: MMI Predicts Six to 18 Months Before SEC Takes Aim.(separately managed accounts, Money Management Institute, Securities and Exchange Commission)
September 27, 2004... DALLAS - Separately managed accounts, now with a combined $529 billion in assets under management, appear headed for a more stringent regulatory landscape. While the tax-efficient investment vehicles geared toward the high net worth have...

ICI Calls on Funds, Brokers To Work in Cooperation.(Investment Company Institute)
September 27, 2004... NEW YORK - Elizabeth Krentzman, general counsel of the Investment Company Institute, called on the fund industry to cultivate a better relationship with the brokerage community to tackle the many issues facing the interrelated businesses. She...

Cautious Investors Reduce August Flows to $6.3B.
September 27, 2004... In the months before the 2004 presidential election, investors are opting for safety over risk. Equity fund inflows were an estimated $11.5 billion in August, according to Lipper, as value funds once again beat growth funds and mixed equity...

Executive Moves.
September 27, 2004... Kelmoore Hires Devine, Shaw, Wooledge as Execs Kelmoore Investment Co., the Palo Alto, Calif.-based wealth management firm, has named Antoine Devine, Jeffrey Shaw and Catherine Wooledge to its management staff. Devine, who has spent 20...

Banks Explore Blueprint for SMA Push.(separately managed account)
September 27, 2004... DALLAS - Bank executives and a handful of third-party service providers convened here last week to attend a separately managed account conference focused on how banks can penetrate a space heavily dominated by the major wirehouses. The...

Pioneer Jump-Starts its SMA Business.
September 27, 2004... Pioneer Investments of Boston is tiptoeing into the separately managed account business through a brand-new phase of its year-old existing partnership with growth manager Oak Ridge Investments of Chicago. Last Wednesday, Pioneer announced...