Practice

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro has named James L. Kroeker as the chief accountant in the SEC's Office of Chief Accountant.

Hedge funds may have to change tactics, notably by cutting their leverage, and adapt to regulations that likely will restrict their investment strategies, according to a recent report about the $2 trillion alternative asset management industry published by Standard & Poor’s.

MetLife's Broker-Dealer Group has introduced MetLife Fund Management Services, an investment advisory solution targeted at emerging investors.

A former UBS banker who cooperated with the U.S. investigation of the Swiss bank was sentenced to over three years in jail for helping a billionaire real estate developer evade $7.2 million in taxes.

The Securities and Exchange Commission needs to undertake a “comprehensive, independent, zero-based regulatory review” of a broad range of market structure issues before “piecemeal changes to the current market structure” exacerbate potential execution unfairness and make matters worse, says U.S. Sen. Edward E. Kaufman (D-Del.).

Vanguard released findings of the investing behavior and performance of its 401(k) investors in 2008, showing remarkable resilience in the face of steep market declines.

QVC officials have reportedly finished their investigation into whether 200 employees falsified documents to try to take hardship withdrawals from their 401(k)s.

Cake Financial Thursday introduced a $99-a-year automated service that attempts to tailor a mutual fund portfolio to an investor’s existing holdings, salary, age and desired retirement age by showing them lower-cost, less risky and better-performing choices.

With news that the economy might be on the mend and that roughly two-thirds of employers are considering reinstating 401(k) matches in the next 18 months, it is not inconceivable that a new 401(k)/pension hybrid that becomes available to employers on Jan. 1, 2010 could gain traction, Kiplinger’s reports.

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance said 401(k) participants continued to move more of their savings and contributions back into the stock market in the second quarter, evidence of growing confidence in investing.