Investment News articles from November 2003

Investment News archives from November 2003

Short Interests: E-business here to stay for asset management firms.(News)
November 3, 2003... Byline: David Hoffman, Michael Ferrarella and Sara Hansard Asset management firms are reducing website budgets, but that doesn't mean companies are abandoning e-business, according to a recent study by kasina LLC, a New York-based...

Monday Morning: Firms still say dog ate their balance sheet.(News)
November 3, 2003... Byline: Bruce Kelly When big investors come looking for financial information, much of corporate America still likes to play games. In fact, many publicly traded companies often like to indulge in a round or two of hide-and-seek with...

Panelists squarely in favor of full disclosure by mutual funds.(InvestmentNews Round Table)
November 3, 2003... Byline: Bruce Kelly After three years of unrelenting gloom and bad news, financial advisers, consultants and brokers finally have reasons to feel a bit cheerier. Despite a spate of recent scandals involving the trading practices of...

Trust not top challenge for money managers; Advisers: Firms took investors for granted.(News)
November 3, 2003... Byline: David Hoffman U.S. money managers surveyed over the summer believed investor trust was just the fifth-greatest challenge facing them over the next three years, according to a global survey of investment managers released last week...

New 529 program could stand input from advisers; Prepaid tuition plan: Sales lagging interest.(News)
November 3, 2003... Byline: Liz Skinner It built a way for anxious parents to pay for up to five years of college long before their kids even choose where to go. Now the Tuition Plan Consortium LLC is waiting for the parents to arrive. And they might...

At the Bell.(Late News)
November 3, 2003... NYSE reform plan expected today * John S. Reed, interim chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, is expected to deliver to exchange members today a preliminary reform proposal and a slate of nominees for a restructured board. Mr. Reed is...

Tax Watch: Battle against abusive tax shelters still rages.(News)
November 3, 2003... Byline: Mark Battersby The Senate Finance Committee's hearings on the progress being made in the fight against both corporate and individual tax shelters are under way. Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the committee,...

New life for simplified savings; Bush may use plans as campaign issue.(News)
November 3, 2003... Byline: Sara Hansard Financial industry lobbyists are gearing up for a bigger push from the administration next year to get its lifetime savings accounts enacted. The life insurance industry remains very concerned about the proposal,...

Moving Up.(News)
November 3, 2003... * Smith Barney Inc. in New York has hired Ben Mitchell, 53, as director of national sales. Mr. Mitchell is responsible for organizing and directing the consulting group's institutional and private-investor sales, and client service initiatives....

Fund manager stock rally on hold; Firms named in probe see share prices slide.(News)
November 3, 2003... Byline: Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. While many mutual fund companies are basking in strong quarterly earnings, a snowballing investigation into abusive trading practices threatens to derail a long-awaited return to prosperity for some. ...

Street Wise: SunAmerica fund walks biotech tightrope.(The Markets)
November 3, 2003... Byline: Jeff Benjamin Brian Clifford has learned to keep the performance of biotechnology sector stocks in perspective. "The tide has lifted everything, without a huge change in fundamentals in a lot of cases,'' says Mr. Clifford,...

Separate accounts: Be careful what you wish for; Due diligence, low margins give pause.(News)
November 3, 2003... Byline: David R. Evanson Separately managed accounts are one of the few bright spots in the asset management business. While mutual fund assets have contracted 3% annually since 1999, managed accounts have grown by almost 7% to $443...

Datebook.(Calendar/Datebook)
November 3, 2003... NOVEMBER 5-7 - Annual meeting, Securities Industry Association. Boca Raton (Fla.) Re- sort and Club. (212)618-0579 or sia.com. 6 - Workshop for Registered Investment Advisors, Russell Investment Group. Sheraton Buckhead Hotel, Atlanta....

SEC right to let up on short sales.(Opinion)
November 3, 2003... The Securities and Exchange Commission should be applauded for its proposal to experiment with eased restrictions on short-selling, the selling of borrowed stock in anticipation of lower prices in the future. The proposal would, for a...

Product Watch: Keir, Acadient offer review course for CFP test.(News)
November 3, 2003... Keir Educational Resources in Middletown, Ohio, will partner with Acadient Inc., a Boston-based distributor of online education materials, to offer the Keir Educational Resources Review Course for the certified financial planner certification...

Big brother is reading your e-mail.(News)
November 3, 2003... Byline: Stan Luxenberg Financial advisers who think their e-mails are private messages protected from the prying eyes of regulators and compliance officers should think again. Recent legal cases show that many otherwise sophisticated...

At Issue: Blocking independent rep's transfer hurts clients.(Opinion)
November 3, 2003... Your Oct. 13 lead article, "Top independent firms are blocking the exits,'' deserves comment from a producing owner of an independent broker-dealer. The firms practicing this behavior do not understand the mentality or business model of the...

Taking Sides: Funds need to act before it's too late.(Opinion)
November 3, 2003... The mutual fund trading scandal gets worse and worse. More fund companies are finding cases of employees' having given after-hours-trading or market-timing privileges to favored investors. So far, according to some investment advisers, the...

Will the B of A cloud rain on Fleet's Columbia? Target's fund investors may suffer because of merger.(News)
November 3, 2003... Byline: David Hoffman The pending acquisition of FleetBoston Financial Corp. by Bank of America Corp. will bring change to both banks' asset management divisions, but it may not benefit all their mutual fund investors, industry experts...

Some advisers exit tainted funds; Many say they are putting off new purchases at Putnam.(News)
November 3, 2003... Byline: Rick Miller Many financial advisers are weighing plans to yank money from companies embroiled in the widening mutual fund scandal, and some have already done so, even as clients remain silent. "I'm pissed,'' says Steve O'Hara,...

Fast Track: Gartmore gets serious about separates.(News)
November 3, 2003... Byline: Jeff Benjamin If there was any doubt as to Gartmore Global Investments Inc.'s commitment to separately managed accounts, it was put to rest with the August hiring of Richard A. Hein. Mr. Hein, 43, steps into the newly created...

SAAFTI sensitive about press reports; Timer group defends member practices.(News)
November 3, 2003... Byline: Jeff Benjamin The Society of Asset Allocators and Fund Timers Inc. has gone on the offensive following several weeks of press reports detailing - and, in some cases, misrepresenting - the practice of market timing. In addition...

Allmerica to shut VeraVest broker-dealer unit; About 800 brokers will soon be on their own.(News)
November 3, 2003... Byline: Bruce Kelly Brokers and advisers with Allmerica Financial Corp.'s broker-dealer unit VeraVest Investments Inc. were scrambling last week to find new jobs after Allmerica told them on Monday it was shutting down the unit. ...

Reverse Spin: Schwab sweet on TD Waterhouse.(Briefs)
November 3, 2003... Byline: Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. Step aside Ben and J.Lo . . . Chuck may be contemplating nuptials of his own. On Wednesday, Charles S. Schwab, founder and chairman of San Francisco's Charles Schwab Corp., confirmed that he would...

Brandywine cuts minimums as others go higher; Doesn't see the move aiding market timing.(News)
November 3, 2003... Byline: David Hoffman In a surprising move, Friess Associates of Delaware LLC has cut the minimums on three Brandywine funds. The Greenville-based company lowered the minimum investment for the Brandywine Fund and the Brandywine Blue...

One on One: "With technology, there's always lots of interesting things going on".(News)
November 3, 2003... Byline: David Hoffman It is technology or zip for the money managers at Firsthand Capital Management Inc. in San Jose, Calif., and it has made for a wild ride. The company's five funds all invest in tech stocks, and as a result, they...

Conference Call: Raymond James chairman tells advisers to get CFP.(News)
November 3, 2003... Byline: Bruce Kelly Raymond James Financial Inc. is pushing its brokers to make sure they think like financial planners. If a broker or financial adviser at the firm doesn't have the certified financial planner designation, or one that...

Conference Call: Life insurance industry under fire for keeping mum on COLI-plan data.(News)
November 3, 2003... Byline: Sara Hansard The life insurance industry ran into some trouble at an Oct. 23 Senate Finance Committee hearing on corporate-owned life insurance. Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, made it clear he is unhappy...

Investment Strategies: How to short the market successfully without really trying.(News)
November 3, 2003... Byline: Frank Minssieux Pretend the markets are taking another nose dive, and your client calls in a panic. They are tired of sitting tight and want to pull out of stocks altogether, or break new ground and short the market. As a good...

Panel cites reasons to be optimistic.(InvestmentNews Round Table)
November 3, 2003... Despite the mutual fund trading scandal, there are two major reasons for advisers to be optimistic, according to participants in an InvestmentNews round table with leading financial services industry executives. First, it has been a...

Fast Track: Bank One equity CIO focuses on overhaul.(News)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Rick Miller Bank One Corp. has gotten more attention lately for possibly hurting its mutual fund investors than it has for helping them. Accusations by New York Attorney General Eliot L. Spitzer in September claimed that the...

Tax Watch: Psst! Want to lease the Brooklyn Bridge?(News)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Mark Battersby Recent Senate Finance Committee hearings targeting sellers and promoters of illegal tax shelters demonstrated that tax shelter schemes are thriving despite increased government enforcement. Those hearings also...

Datebook.(Calendar/Datebook)
November 10, 2003... NOVEMBER 11-14 - Thirteenth annual IMPACT Conference, Schwab Institutional. Moscone West Convention Center, San Francisco. impact.schwab.com. 12 - Creating a Pipeline of New Affluent Clients, Resource Network LTD. The American College,...

Rydex unveils asset custody venture; Already has $700M from 46 advisers.(News)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Brooke Southall Rydex Funds has jumped into the custody game for financial advisers. The maverick Rockville, Md.-based mutual fund company, which unveiled the new business last week at the Denver- and Atlanta-based Financial...

Investors see need for financial pros; Survey finds investors poorly informed.(News)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Liz Skinner More than half of investors responding to an online survey have used a financial professional in the past year, usually an adviser. The poll of 1,035 investors, conducted in September, offers a snapshot of U.S....

Scandals put ICI president in spotlight; The heat is on as Fink gets ready for retirement.(News)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Bruce Kelly Matthew Fink, president of the Investment Company Institute, is facing the most intense spotlight of his career. And over the coming weeks, the wattage is likely to grow, fund industry observers say. In fact, until...

Taking Sides: Reed off to a good start with NYSE overhaul plans.(Opinion)
November 10, 2003... At the New York Stock Exchange, it is out with the old and in with the new. Interim chief executive John S. Reed deserves credit for performing a difficult task within a very short period of time as he looks to make sweeping changes at the Big...

For some planners, wildfires hit home; Few clients affected; FPA is pitching in.(News)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Brooke Southall William P. Bengen could see flames approaching his El Cajon, Calif., house from half a mile away, so he wasn't surprised when firefighters told him: "Get out!'' But as a financial adviser with a home office, he...

At Issue: Additional lessons needed on need-analysis formula.(Opinion)
November 10, 2003... Your Oct. 20 Monday Morning, "Jumping over college tuition hurdles,'' contains a few misleading statements regarding the federal need-analysis methodology. The "expected family contribution'' is not the equivalent of 5% to 6% of the...

Monday Morning: Fund bigwigs risk it all for small potatoes.(News)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Mike Clowes Perhaps the most puzzling aspect of the burgeoning mutual fund scandal is that the gains from the market-timing and after-hours-trading activities were relatively small compared with the potential cost of the damage to...

One on One: "I get a lot of honest feedback and truly valuable advice from advisers".(News)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Brooke Southall Nobody ever accused David S. Pottruck, the former wrestling star who oversees pricing changes at Charles Schwab Corp. and determines who gets the ax, of being a cuddly bear. But the more power Mr. Pottruck...

New software aims to help advisers cut data; Integrated approach could save time.(News)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Liz Skinner Help may be on the way for financial advisers seeking to streamline the data entry process essential to creating financial plans. Several financial planning software vendors are teaming up with data providers and...

Congress set to pull trigger on mutual fund legislation; Some advisers anxious about possible unintended consequences.(News)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Sara Hansard Congress appears poised to repeat its behavior of last year, when it hurriedly enacted the sweeping Sarbanes-Oxley Act after several major corporations fell apart from accounting lapses. This time, the target is the...

Mutual funds seeing spike in class actions; At least 11 suits filed, 4 more than in 2002.(News)
November 10, 2003... Byline: David Hoffman Mutual fund companies may have more to fear from their own investors than from New York Attorney General Eliot L. Spitzer. The number of class actions filed against mutual funds on the heels of Mr. Spitzer's...

New Pandora's box? Touted fiduciary mode could increase liability.(News)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Rick Miller A rallying cry from various corners of the financial planning profession calls upon planners to embrace the mantle of fiduciary. David Yeske, president of the Financial Planning Association, urged attendees at the...

Waddell & Reed focus shifts to productivity; Firm trims back recruiting efforts.(News)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Rick Miller As it reduces recruiting efforts, Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. is focusing more on increasing the productivity of its 3,000 financial advisers. The Overland Park, Kan., asset manager told advisers last month of...

Moving Up.(News)
November 10, 2003... * Northern Trust Co. in Chicago has promoted Joyce M. St. Clair, 44, and Lloyd A. Wennlund, 46, to executive vice presidents, from senior vice presidents. * Prudential Financial Inc. in Newark, N.J., has hired Michael Witwer, 44, as senior...

Product Watch: Transition-planning site for RIAs is launched.(News)
November 10, 2003... Business Transitions LLC in Portland, Ore., has released RIA Transitions, the fourth in a line of online transition-planning sites. It was developed in response to the increase in popularity of FP Transitions among registered investment...

Inflation + weak dollar = big trouble; Unexpected inflation at home, and increased monetary instability abroad, could short-circuit the recovery.(Opinion)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Charles Kadlec The rise in the price of gold to more than $380 an ounce and the apparent shift by the United States to a weak-dollar policy signal an increase in the risk of monetary instability both here and abroad. The...

Street Wise: Fund manager sees corporations driving rebound.(The Markets)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Jeff Benjamin From where Sujatha Avutu sits, there are solid reasons to position her Evergreen Equity Income Fund (ETRAX) to benefit from a shift from consumers to corporations as economic drivers. The $1.2 billion fund, which...

Lasser exit fails to calm advisers; Disgust over Putnam scandal lingers.(News)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. Lawrence J. Lasser's exit as chief executive of embattled Putnam Investments LLC is cold comfort to many of the advisers selling the company's funds. "It's a disgrace that they let it happen in the...

Morningstar's stars for separates vex some in industry; Process-to-product transition is feared.(News)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Jeff Benjamin Morningstar Inc.'s new star rating system for separately managed accounts, presented as a benefit for financial advisers, has been met with a chorus of grumbling from money managers and program sponsors. "My...

At the Bell.(Late News)
November 10, 2003... Waterhouse plans $50 million in ads * TD Waterhouse Group Inc. of New York will spend $50 million on a new ad campaign that starts today. Advertising Age, a sister publication, reports that the ads will feature actor Sam Waterston of...

Conference Call: Debating the direction of the stock market indexes.(News)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. Mirror, mirror on the wall, will they rise or will they fall? That was the big question last week at the Financial Planning Association's Success Forum 2003 in Philadelphia. Indeed, with the major stock...

Conference Call: Just don't ask for a definition of 'financial planning'.(News)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Rick Miller Although the future of financial planning appears rosy, even advisers can't completely define what the industry is all about. "I think it's rash to assume that we get it,'' said Richard Wagner, an adviser and...

It may be curtains for window dressing; SEC is expected to consider restricting the practice.(News)
November 10, 2003... Byline: David Hoffman Investors may not know it, but they could be looking at their mutual fund's holdings through rose-colored glasses supplied by fund managers. The practice, called "window dressing,'' is an attempt to spruce up...

Reverse Spin: It's nice to be needed -- by the rich.(Briefs)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. They like you... they really like you! The percentage of rich Americans who rely on financial planners and advisers is climbing, according to the results of a survey released Thursday by The Spectrem...

Short Interests: Hedge funds may get green light to strut their stuff.(News)
November 10, 2003... Byline: Sara Hansard, Brooke Southall and Jeff Benjamin Hedge funds could be permitted to advertise under a proposal put forward by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a report on hedge fund regulation. In the report, released in...

Street Wise: This isn't your father's Asia-Pacific mutual fund.(The Markets)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Jeff Benjamin India, New Zealand and Pakistan aren't typically associated with an allocation to the Asian equity markets, but that doesn't mean they can't be. In constructing the Matthews Asia-Pacific Fund (MPACX), which was...

Taking Sides: Stop the bleeding - boost mutual fund disclosure.(Opinion)
November 17, 2003... Changes are needed in the governance of mutual funds, but Congress must not rush into ill-considered legislation. Poor legislation, by raising costs or restricting investment flexibility, might harm investors more than the poor behavior of...

Tax loss harvesting with ETFs out of vogue; Need has declined with market's upturn.(Special Report: Tax Planning)
November 17, 2003... Byline: David Hoffman Using exchange-traded funds in harvesting losses to offset taxable gains can save investors money. The "tax loss harvesting'' strategy was used extensively over the past few years when the stock market was...

Beware of tax traps lurking amid perks; Shocks in store for some investors.(Special Report: Tax Planning)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Rick Miller While it's hard to imagine, 2003 has the makings of a feel-good tax year. Lower tax brackets, and cuts in the dividend and capital gains rates to 15%, were among the major benefits of the tax package signed by...

Monday Morning: Take no chances with customer service.(News)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Jim Pavia Because financial advisers deal with risk each day, it makes sense not to take any chances with clients. Losing them by assuming they are satisfied with the service you and your firm are providing is a risk you cannot...

At the Bell.(Late News)
November 17, 2003... Schwab admits improper trading * Charles Schwab Corp. of San Francisco acknowledged Friday it had uncovered instances of improper short-term trading in the Excelsior group of no-load mutual funds, run by its U.S. Trust Corp. unit. Schwab...

SEC inquiry focuses on who knew; As probe widens, timing is big question.(News)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Bruce Kelly Which firms knew what, when? That's what the Securities and Exchange Commission is trying to find out as it investigates firms - ranging from national wirehouses to small discount brokerage houses - that may have known...

Funds seek to put onus on brokers; Want to shift liability for trading improprieties.(News)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Bruce Kelly Some mutual fund companies are looking to pass the buck to broker-dealers over potential liabilities stemming from market timing and late trading of funds, brokerage executives say. Over the past two months, many...

Schwab pumps up sales side; Readies its troops to combat wirehouses.(News)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Brooke Southall Charles Schwab Corp. is finally going after its competitors by arming the posse. In a move aimed at yanking assets away from resilient wirehouse brokers, the San Francisco-based brokerage company is going to...

Damage control effort is targeting advisers; But some want fund firms to address fixing matters.(News)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Rick Miller Running a play out of a crisis management handbook, scandal-tainted mutual fund companies are taking a no-holds-barred approach to keeping financial advisers from pulling assets from their firms. In the case of...

Reverse Spin - State probers: SEC too soft on Putnam.(Briefs)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. Ain't nothing "settled'' with regard to this settlement. New York Attorney General Eliot L. Spitzer and Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin dismissed Putnam Investments LLC's partial...

Fast Track: State Street Research gets cleanup help.(News)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. Considering the scandal sweeping through the mutual fund industry right now, Kevin N. Wilkins, 38, is probably happy to include a household cleaner on his resume. In September, Mr. Wilkins, who was once...

The season for giving sees modest gains; Increase in donations tempered by worries.(Special Report: The Giving Season)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. As charities, art groups, religious organizations and other non-profit organizations head into the critical year-end giving season, benevolence may be in greater supply than it was a year ago. The...

Planners urge calm in fund crisis; FPA pushes for reforms, greater disclosure.(News)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Sara Hansard Financial planners are trying to thread their way carefully through the thicket of calls for more regulation of the mutual fund industry. In a Nov. 7 letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William H....

New on the Books.(Special Report: Tax Planning)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Internal Revenue Service President Bush signed the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 on May 28. Described below are the major changes made by the new law that affect tax years beginning in 2003. * The tax...

Conference Call: Buzzword is 'compliance' at SIA powwow.(News)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Bruce Kelly With scandals over trading in mutual funds continuing to unfold, broker-dealer executives and industry observers think that firms better start changing their cultures to ensure that compliance comes first. That was...

One on One: "Less than 50% of the public is currently covered by some kind of retirement plan".(News)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Sara Hansard For the past year, Pamela F. Olson has carried the banner for a controversial plan that would allow every taxpayer to set aside up to $7,500 annually and withdraw the money tax free for any reason at any time. As...

Schwab, adding 11 funds, eyes marketing coup; Deal with AXA builds firm's offerings.(News)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Brooke Southall In an effort to wow investors and calm their nerves in a single marketing collaboration, San Francisco-based Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. has slapped its newly minted Laudus brand on 11 funds managed by AXA Rosenberg...

Tax Watch: Internet tax bill on the move in the Senate.(News)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Mark Battersby The Senate Finance Committee has discharged the Internet Tax Freedom Act, a move that allows the bill to move quickly to the Senate floor. The bill would ensure that new taxes could be imposed on Internet access. It...

New tax laws may be on horizon though 2004 is an election year; Bush's push for LSAs, against death tax.(Special Report: Tax Planning)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Sara Hansard Tax experts are divided over whether new tax laws will be enacted in 2004. After all, it is a presidential-election year, and that is not normally considered to be a good time for tax legislation. "A tax bill...

Mutual fund scandals force soul-searching; Advisers assess their own culpability.(News)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. As scandal continues to rip through the $7 trillion mutual fund industry, financial advisers are beginning to ask themselves one tough question: "Where were we?'' No one is saying advisers bear sole...

Debate is spurred by ICI's report defending mutual fund expenses; Critics charge ICI with fuzzy math.(News)
November 17, 2003... Byline: David Hoffman The Investment Company Institute in Washington quietly posted a report on its website this month rebutting charges that pension plan expenses are lower than mutual fund expenses. But critics say the ICI's analysis...

States slap advisers with fee increases; Adviser fees to help offset budget deficits.(News)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Jeff Benjamin In these times of tighter state budgets, the business of financial advice is emerging as a source of quick and easy cash. Financial advisers across the country are seeing a sudden jump in many of the state-imposed...

Short Interests: President Bush salutes military with tax benefits.(News)
November 17, 2003... Byline: Sara Hansard, David Hoffman and Brooke Southall On Veteran's Day, Pres- ident Bush signed legislation into law giving several tax benefits to members of the military. Among the provisions, the law increases death gratuity...

Street Wise: Bobbing and weaving leads to outperformance.(The Markets)
November 24, 2003... Byline: Jeff Benjamin With no restrictions in terms of market capitalization or sectors, Harry Rosenbluth has spent the past 18 months tilting his portfolio toward what he calls "higher-quality and higher-cap stocks.'' Mr. Rosenbluth...

At Issue: Advisers' moral high ground is soft underfoot.(Opinion)
November 24, 2003... Thank you for Rick Miller's excellent article ["Some advisers exit tainted funds,'' Nov. 3]. How sad it is that these advisers claim to suddenly have a conscience. They will think nothing of placing a grandparent's 529 investment into...