Practice

Harvey Pitt has not even been formally sworn in as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, yet already some industry observers are concerned that mutual funds may take a back seat once he takes the wheel.

A House subcommittee approved the Retirement Security Advice Act Thursday afternoon, prompting its proponents to insist that the House will pass it by year's end. It was the quickest markup of a bill in the history of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, lasting a short six minutes. But brewing far from the corridors of those meeting halls is an opposition that hopes for the bill's demise in the Senate.

The reason behind the recent proposal of the New York Stock Exchange to limit how much investment companies can pay in closed-end listing fees is not clear, but chances are it's not out of kindness.

The Investment Company Institute's call last week for less portfolio holdings disclosure is probably the best indication that the Securities and Exchange Commission is getting ready to increase disclosure requirements, according to industry observers.

The Department of Labor last week endorsed a proposal in the House of Representatives that would allow 401(k) investors to receive advice from employer-sponsored financial planners, giving the initiative renewed momentum and prompting its proponents to assert that the House will pass it by year end.

As fall approaches, Thomas Clough, the president of New York Life Benefit Services, is excitedly readying a team of marketers to walk into office buildings and talk to workers of all ages and all incomes about their 401(k) plans.

This year's Morningstar conference began with the issuance of a challenge to the fund industry by Morningstar managing director Don Phillips to improve investors' experience with mutual funds.

Hearings are expected to commence soon on a new bill that would allow retirement plan providers to offer advisory services to plan participants, something that is largely prohibited now. Representative John Boehner (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce introduced the bill, called the Retirement Security Advice Act, last month.

An NASDR arbitration panel has ruled against Franklin Templeton of San Mateo, Calif. in an arbitration case filed in 1999 against the fund adviser by Daniel Calabria, a former fund executive.

Sagging U.S. and international equity markets are to blame for a 2% drop in retirement assets held in mutual funds last year, according to a report issued by the Investment Company Institute.