Investment News articles from July 2001

Investment News archives from July 2001

Banks and brokers rally around retirement bill.
July 2, 2001... * Legislation becomes focus of battle over 401(k) advice A bill pending in Congress has become the latest battleground, pitting financial planners against the rest of the financial services industry. At issue: Who gets to give people...

Investors stay loyal despite fund losses.
July 2, 2001... * One out of every six investors last year lost 20% or more of their portfolio value, according to a survey released last week by the Forum for Investor Advice, a Bethesda, Md., organization representing mutual funds that sell through...

House panel backs FBI data sharing.
July 2, 2001... * The House Financial Services Committee last week approved legislation that would allow financial regulators to set up a network to check out industry employees. The bill was approved by voice vote without dissent. The bill would give...

Bank One decides Wingspan won't fly.
July 2, 2001... * Bank One Corp. in Chicago last week decided that its stand-alone Internet bank, WingspanBank.com, isn't going to fly. The nation's fifth-largest bank holding company said Thursday it would close the two-year-old bank in the fall and fold...

NASD reignites annuity probe.
July 2, 2001... Sweep is under way; actions in fall likely Regulators this fall expect to announce a new round of enforcement actions against sellers of variable annuities. One knowledgeable industry consultant, requesting anonymity, says that the...

Rich ditch Wall Street for indies.
July 2, 2001... Independent advisers gaining equal footing In the race to court the rich, Wall Street's biggest investment houses are losing ground to independent advisers. And in an ironic twist, the big firms are contributing to the trend by making...

WealthTrust buys 2 wealth managers.
July 2, 2001... * WealthTrust Inc., a Nashville money management holding company, has acquired controlling equity stakes in Greenwood Capital Management LLC of Greenwood, S.C., and Delta Asset Management LLC of Memphis, Tenn. The companies manage a...

When opportunity knocks... buy, buy, buy.
July 2, 2001... Investors are generally seeking to buy low and sell high, but few actually do so on a consistent basis. The reason, according to Mary Lisanti, chief investment officer for domestic equities at ING Pilgrim Investments in Scottsdale, Ariz.,...

Mabel, get me a hot biotech stock.
July 2, 2001... Bosses often turn to their secretary or receptionist when they're searching for something. Now they can add winning stock picks to the list. Robert Turner, founder and chief investment officer of Turner Investment Partners, told an...

Practicing what they preach.
July 2, 2001... Pax World Management Corp., which offers an array of socially responsible mutual funds, says it is now the first mutual fund company to post the results of proxy voting on its website. But is it a gimmick, or is it good for investors? ...

Heat's on brokers to end conflicts.
July 2, 2001... Brokerage firms need to pick up the pace to correct potential conflicts of interest in their research and analysis, according to a new survey of institutional investors. An overwhelming majority, 93%, of the 156 investment management...

Morningstar taskes shine to separate accounts.
July 2, 2001... Fund-rating king eyes establishing a ranking system to aid investors Coming, but not too soon, to a managed account near you -- ratings. Morningstar Inc., the company that revolutionized the mutual fund industry by telling you...

Gross is morose on stock growth, but Miller's bullish enough to bet.
July 2, 2001... Gurus of bond, value investing take different tacks on economy You know times are tough when the king of value investing and the king of bond investing can't agree on the outlook for the stock market. But neither is predicting a tidal...

SunAmerica shuffles execs in bid to glow.
July 2, 2001... Two broker-dealers get new presidents The country's largest network of independent broker-dealers, striving to get its expansion back on track, is making more changes at the top. SunAmerica Financial Network Inc., which has 9,100...

Defense stocks: Bombs away or just bombs?
July 2, 2001... Political, economic factors benefit sector With a Republican administration bent on remaking America's military some mutual fund portfolio managers think defense stocks could explode in value. Despite rising prices, stocks of companies...

Appeals court hard on Microsoft judge.
July 2, 2001... Is this what you would call a reverse split? A federal appeals court Thursday threw out last year's landmark ruling ordering Seattle's Microsoft Corp. to split in half as punishment for aggressive monopolistic practices. The appeals...

No honey in the pot.
July 2, 2001... * Talk about a deal that keeps drawing the death card. Hope for General Electric Co.'s proposed $41.2 billion takeover of Honeywell International Inc. faded Friday after GE rejected a last-ditch effort by Honeywell to save the deal. ...

A stingy Fed.
July 2, 2001... * Alan Greenspan is getting stingy in his old age. The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday cut U.S. interest rates a mere quarter percentage point, turning down the heat on its aggressive rate cutting campaign. The Fed action brought...

Taking the fall.
July 2, 2001... * Here's a little lesson they don't teach you in business school: A company is only as bad as its fall guy. On Wednesday, Schering Plough Corp., which is besieged by quality-control problems at its pharmaceutical plants, announced that...

Merrill ready for offers?
July 2, 2001... * Guess who is sitting smack-dab in the middle of the stock market's downdraft? Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., the No. 1 brokerage firm in the nation, that's who. The New York company said Tuesday that its second-quarter earnings would...

Meet the Wichita bond man.
July 2, 2001... After 26 years in double digits, he's ready to take on Wall Street Some people just defy the odds. Money manager Don S. Peters is one of them. Over the past 26 years, he has averaged double-digit returns from fixed-income investments...

Pilgrim set to push bank sales.
July 2, 2001... Tries fund channel others have dropped Playing off its distinctive name, ING Groep's ad slogan says, "It's not an ending, it's a beginning." And when it comes to selling its ING Pilgrim mutual funds, the Amsterdam-based company's U.S....

Insurer ethics group loses chief amid woes woe.
July 2, 2001... Two and a half years after becoming executive director of the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association, Paul Mason is returning to private law practice. In September, Mr. Mason will join the Washington office of Philadelphia-based...

Foibles trump AmEx's adviser card.
July 2, 2001... When help is needed, unit shorts potential When the economy turned into a bad bet last year, American Express Co. was supposed to have an ace in the hole -- its financial adviser unit. But "an ill-timed reorganization," a sour wager on...

SEC sets guidelines for switching annuities.
July 2, 2001... Tells marketers when retail exception applies The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a list of conditions that will govern whether holders of variable annuities can be switched into new contracts, especially when controversial...

Broker-dealer Sincere-ly builds adviser business.
July 2, 2001... Boutique for funds has added separate accounts Richard Sincere maybe a third-generation stockbroker, but he's a decidely different cut from his three-piece-suited father and grandfather. After stints at Citibank and Fidelity...

High turnover helps 'hot' managers sustain runs.
July 2, 2001... Growth-equity portfolio managers who shoot the lights out should keep right on shooting, according to a new study on investment performance. High portfolio turnover and heavy cash flow -- often buoyed by a "reputation effect" --...

Fed action, Bush tax plan don't cut it with the CFOs.
July 2, 2001... The Federal Reserve has sprinkled a little more fairy dust on the economy, hoping to stem its slow slide, but there is no joy in executive suites with either the Fed's latest rate cut or President Bush's plan to use tax rebates to juice the...

New hired hand riding herd over Wells Fargo's assets.
July 2, 2001... Wells Fargo & Co.'s stagecoach name and column-fronted branches evoke a venerable bank that has kept its credit discipline over the decades. But that's not good enough. Responding to an increasingly competitive climate in which growth...

Moving Up.
July 2, 2001... HIRINGS & PROMOTIONS * Aegon USA Inc. in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has appointed John Riazzi, 38, chief executive officer of Transamerica Investment Management LLC. He will be charge with expanding the unit's distribution strategy beyond the...

Equity fund expenses.
July 2, 2001... Equity fund expenses How much are those funds in the window? EMERGING MARKETS EXPENSE 1-YEAR ASSETS FUND RATIO RETURN ($M) LOWEST COST Vanguard...

Worst of times is best of times.
July 2, 2001... In the spirit of dark clouds and their silver linings, HBV Capital Management LLC in New York is aiming to make the most of the current equity markets by prospecting among sectors that have fallen on hard times. "We know that the market is...

THE MARKETS.
July 2, 2001... THE MARKETS InvestmentNews Index * -34.53 Down 2.07% to 1637.78 S&P -0.80 Down 0.07% to 1224.55 Dow Jones Industries -102.19 Down 0.96% to 10502.40 FINANCIAL SERVICES ...

"Investing in funds that have an outstanding record is death".
July 2, 2001... Boosting assets under management in a shaky stock market is difficult for anyone, but that's exactly what Lewis J.. Altfest is doing. The 60-year-old president of L.J. Altfest & Co. Inc. in New York now has $150 million under management,...

End of snag urged on SEC fee cuts.
July 2, 2001... * Michael G. Oxley, the Ohio Republican who heads the House Financial Services Committee, called on the Senate to pass a bill that would reduce securities fees imposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. His plea came in response to...

Jackson's CEO quits after deal fiasco.
July 2, 2001... * As part of the continuing fallout from Prudential PLC's botched bid for American General Corp., Robert Saltzman, 58, president and CEO of Jackson National Life Insurance Co., the British insurer's primary U.S. unit, has resigned. Mr....

Goldman exec going to a hedge fund.
July 9, 2001... * Ricardo Cortez, a high-profile executive hired by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. last year to lead its use of outside companies to handle money for Goldman clients, is defecting to a hedge fund. Mr. Cortez, 51, is expected to announce today...

Merrill disbanding Los Angeles unit.
July 9, 2001... * Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. has sold part of its Los Angeles equity management business to its executives and is discontinuing the rest of the unit, the company says. Merrill had sought a buyer for the unit, originally known as Hotchkis &...

SunTrust: Results buoy merger bid.
July 9, 2001... * SunTrust Banks Inc. believes its strong second-quarter profits strengthened its bid to acquire Wachovia Corp. over that of rival First Union Corp. But one financial analyst isn't so sure it will make a difference. The Atlanta bank's...

Phoenix is adding hedge fund of funds.
July 9, 2001... * The growing appeal of hedge fund investing has attracted the attention of Phoenix Investment Partners Inc., the Hartford, Conn., investment company with more than $50 billion under management in conventional products such as mutual funds. ...

Insurance group adds benefits unit.
July 9, 2001... * The Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers is starting a new unit to represent the employee-benefits divisions of its members. The division will be called the Council of Employee Benefits Executives. The parent council represents...

Breaching a confidence.
July 9, 2001... Misrepresentation, sloppy work dominate complaints against advisers Bitter letters, caustic e-mails and desperate phone calls alleging misdeeds by registered investment advisers are up 37% in the wake of the dot-com crash, and one...

A lost ball in high grass.
July 9, 2001... Economy out of the woods but not the weeds There's no denying it -- financial advisers are a cautious lot. Despite signs that the bearlike market slide that began in March 2000 has finally run its course, many advisers remain skeptical...

Prowling junkyard, big dogs see value.
July 9, 2001... High-yield bonds may be ready to pop The junk funk continues with bond downgrades and defaults on the rise, but a few big investors are starting to sniff at the sector. Legg Mason's value investing guru Bill Miller recently let it slip...

When Maria grinds, the stocks go bump.
July 9, 2001... She was once the "Money Honey." But good Lord! The names angry investors are calling CNBC newscaster Maria Bartiromo these days in the chat rooms of Yahoo! Would you believe "Maria Fart-Aroma"? Come on, guys, she doesn't deserve...

A golden anniversary for 'Saint Jack'.
July 9, 2001... It was 1951. Communist and U.S.-led United Nations troops battled for Seoul; Bogart and Hepburn won best acting Oscars for "The African Queen"; disk jockey Alan Freed coined the term 'rock n' roll.' And, oh, John Bogle, the future god of...

E&Y again rated top planning firm.
July 9, 2001... Repeat! Ernst & Young LLP has been named top-rated financial planning provider in Worth magazine's annual "A-list" reader's choice survey for the second year in a row. "Being on Worth's A-list shows that our clients have benefited in a...

No, not Jack Benna.
July 9, 2001... What do Oprah Winfrey Kirk Douglas, Jimmy Carter and Ted Benna have in common? (Yes, Ted Benna.) The president of the 401(k) Association recently joined the ranks of the aforementioned celebrities when he got the Jefferson Award for...

Putting a family office in reach of so-so rich.
July 9, 2001... Virtual network brings concept down-market Financial planner Peter Wheeler thinks he's got an angle on the financial services firm of the future -- a virtual network of lawyers, accountants and advisers connected through the Internet. ...

Insurer makes a racket out of Erisa, suit says.
July 9, 2001... * Accuses New York Life of reneging on retirement deals Are insurance agents employees or independent contractors? That's one of the key issues in a little-noticed class action against New York Life Insurance Co. The plaintiffs, led by...

Growth fades to unfashionable, again.
July 9, 2001... Mutual funds take hit; some Shut, fewer begun Growth-oriented mutual funds are to the fund industry what beehives and Afros are to hairstyles -- bona fide fashion emergencies. Despite a modest comeback in the second quarter this year,...

Jobs report takes wind out of Wall Street's sails.
July 9, 2001... Once again, Wall Street is singing the profit blues. Stocks plummeted Friday, thanks to yet another wave of corporate profit warnings. A key U.S. jobs report also dashed hopes of a speedy economic recovery. "It's just a really nasty...

GE deal loses spark.
July 9, 2001... * Even GE couldn't bring this deal to life. The European Commission on Tuesday blocked the $42 billion purchase of Honeywell International Inc. by General Electric Co. of Fairfield, Conn., marking the first time that European regulators had...

All cameras on analysts.
July 9, 2001... * Americans need to get to know their analysts a little better. The National Association of Securities Dealers Regulation Inc. issued a proposal Monday calling for Wall Street analysts who discuss stockes on television to disclose their...

Factories start producing.
July 9, 2001... * A glimmer of hope? New orders for goods produced at U.S. factories rose 2.5% in May to a seasonally adjusted $343.67 billion following a 3.4% decline in April, according to a report by the Department of Commerce Tuesday. The May increase...

Amazon on fire?
July 9, 2001... * Apparently, legendary value investor Bill Miller is not the only one hot for Amazon.com Inc. Shares of the Seattle company shot up 8% Thursday after Bear Stearns Cos. analyst Jeffrey Fieler said he expected the company to post revenues...

Citigroup under scrutiny.
July 9, 2001... * The uncreditworthy unite! The Federal Reserve said Monday it would conduct a "thorough examination" of efforts by banking bigwig Citigroup Inc. to address concerns about its lending to less creditworthy borrowers. NewYork's Citigroup...

Annuity issuers, managers try to thwart timers.
July 9, 2001... New Fidelity series imposes 1% exit fee As market timers increasingly move into variable annuities to profit from short-term trades, insurers and investment managers are mulling a counterattack with redemption fees. This month,...

Red tape said to strangle small-business IPOs.
July 9, 2001... Devil seen in details of SEC registration Securities regulators are standing in the way of the next Microsoft or Home Depot and the investors who might want to back them. At least that's what critics charged at a recent congressional...

The sun should shine on how fund managers make money.
July 9, 2001... The securities industry belatedly turning its attention to the obvious and potential conflicts of interest involving sell-side securities analysts, has produced a code of best practices. Although only a beginning, it's a good first step. ...

Fed gets economy's ducks in a row.
July 9, 2001... The alignment of monetary policy with economic growth is the most significant change in the economic and market outlook The Federal Reserve's reduction of the fed funds target rate to 3.75% late last month put the economy a step closer to...

Accentuating negative.
July 9, 2001... I was somewhat surprised at the strong negative overtones of the article on Phoenix Home Life Mutual Insurance Co. ["A debutante of questionable pedigree," May 7]. My surprise stems from the fact that the article omitted any positive...

ProFund plays it straight with index funds.
July 9, 2001... Says market timers have appetite for plain vanilla Stand back, market timers. Your good pal ProFund Advisors LLC is gearing up to offer a slew of, ahem, normal index funds. The fund shop in Bethesda, Md., is best known for catering to...

Paperless commerce proving a hassle.
July 9, 2001... Conflicts with states, consent issues intrude Financial services companies are eager to do business without paper, but the industry is having a hard time making sure customers can receive required notices electronically. And it's also...

Making something new under the Sun.
July 9, 2001... Bridget Gaughan has built SunAmerica Inc.'s legal and compliance staff over the last six years from a handful of professionals into a force of 25 compliance officers and regulators. Now she has assumed the equally imposing task of implementing...

Invesco Private Capital.
July 9, 2001... Invesco Private Capital in New York has appointed Alan M. Kittner, 44, a managing director in Palo Alto, Calif. Mr. Kittner will be focusing on investments in emerging medical and life science companies. Mr. Kittner was the chief executive...

The New York City Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.
July 9, 2001... The New York City Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, the largest of five professional associations represented by the National Alliance of Insurance and Financial Professionals, has elected Eric Roth to a one-year term as...

Neuberger Berman Inc.
July 9, 2001... Neuberger Berman Inc. of New York has named Bruce S. Tanous, a regional vice president, to head its new Washington office. Mr. Tanous, 46, will market the firm's services to high-net-worth individuals, trusts, foundations and family offices in...

Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin.
July 9, 2001... Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin in Los Angeles has named Simon Gisby, 38, director of its New York based health-care investment banking group. Mr. Gisby, who has more than 10 years' financial services experience, will manage mergers and...

State Street Research and Management Co.
July 9, 2001... State Street Research and Management Co. in Boston has appointed Rosalina Feliciano, 37, and Don DeVeuve, 44, co-managers for the State Street Research High Income Fund. They will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the fund and...

Securities America Inc.
July 9, 2001... Securities America Inc. in Omaha, Neb., has promoted Chris Flint, 30, to regional vice president and director of branch office development, from branch development consultant. He will be responsible for leading Securities America's team of...

Savingforcollge.com LLC.
July 9, 2001... Savingforcollge.com LLC in Pittsford, N.Y., has appointed Jeffrey Clark, 36, chief operating officer. Mr. Clark, who has more than 15 years' experience in the financial services industry, will oversee sales, marketing, finance, administration...

Appeal of hedge funds tempered by high fees.
July 9, 2001... The good news is that financial advisers can add alternative investments such as hedge funds to client portfolios if they are willing to make the effort. The bad news is that the market is being flooded with choices, so understanding the...

When some advisers go bad.
July 9, 2001... Responding to a newspaper ad, Matt Van Egdom of Camarillo, Calif., thought he'd found a legitimate financial adviser. Vincent Ferro, who ran Capital Advisory Group in Thousand Oaks, Calif., made some money for Mr. Van Egdom. That's probably...

Bond fund expenses.
July 9, 2001... Bond fund expenses It's time to take out the adding machine... HIGH-YIELD MUNI EXPENSE 1-YEAR ASSETS RATIO RETURN ($M) LOWEST COST AIM Tax-Exempt...

Bottom-fishing by Seligman.
July 9, 2001... Evidence that some people think the market's wild ride is starting to settle down might he found in the recent launch of the Seligman Select Technology Trust (FSSTTX). The unit investment trust, which will be selling shares through July 24, was...

InvestmentNews Index *.
July 9, 2001... InvestmentNews Index * -37.20 Down 2.27% to 1600.58 S&P 500 -33.96 Down 2.77% to 1190.59 Dow Jones Industrials -249.72 Down 2.38% to 10252.68 Note: Table made from bar graph ...

Website flags corporate debt hazards.
July 9, 2001... Avoiding junk bond defaults is now as easy as logging on to your favorite website. At least that's the pitch being made by KMV LLC, a San Francisco company that recently launched CreditEdge.com, a credit risk measurement service for active...

"With structured notes, the returns could well exceed stock market returns.
July 9, 2001... With a new era comes a new beginning. Springfield Asset Management LLC embarked on a new era last year when it changed its name to Deerfield Capital Management LLC. Founded in 1993 as a specialist in government fixed-income arbitrage,...

Hedges grow wild, luring talent.
July 16, 2001... Industry reels to meet demand; advisers cautioned It's a case of buyer beware. The financial services industry is scrambling to package entry-level hedge fund products to meet ballooning demand, but advisers are cautioned of potential...

[0] Hedges grow wild, luring talent.
July 16, 2001... Managers desert funds for hedge funds' big bucks Money talks and managers walk. A growing number of top portfolio managers are abandoning mutual funds and heading for the greener pastures of hedge funds, lured by the prospect of...

N.Y. Democrat pushing for analyst regulation.
July 16, 2001... Industry solution is not the answer A leading congressional Democrat, unimpressed by Merrill Lynch's new rule banning its analysts from buying stock in companies they cover, has called again for regulation of analyst conflicts -- as...

Fidelity lays off 160 from adviser unit.
July 16, 2001... * Fidelity Investments, the world's biggest mutual fund company, has eliminated 9.1% of the jobs in its group that caters to advisers. Company spokeswoman Anne Crowley says that the 160 positions were cut Thursday, but service to advisers will...

Amex to consult on ETFs for a fee.
July 16, 2001... * The American Stock Exchange is selling a consulting package to financial services companies looking to get into the business of exchange-traded funds. In the past, the Amex has been a consultant but did not charge a fee. The new group will...