Portfolio

The Securities and Exchange Commission may bring enforcement action against the Reserve Management Company and its managers for possible violations of federal securities laws.Reserve Management president Bruce Bent and his two sons Bruce Bent II and Arthur Bent III, who are senior executives at the firm, have said they will cooperate with an SEC investigation, but "expect to defend vigorously against the allegations."The Reserve's Primary Fund nearly created a panic in mid September when it announced that it "broke the buck," falling below the implied guarantee of $1 per share. Billions of dollars in assets flew out of other money market mutual funds in the following days, but money fund assets have since recovered at most shops, in some cases soaring.Since then, virtually all of Reserve's funds have frozen withdrawals and announced plans to liquidate.Investment firm Ameriprise Financial Inc. is suing the Reserve in federal court for allegedly telling some of its investors in advance that it was in danger of breaking the buck.A few weeks ago, Reserve admitted it gave inaccurate information to investors, saying the Primary fund actually broke the buck five hours earlier than initially reported.

It used to be that dividend-paying stocks got no respect, but after a year like 2008, they are back in their prime, BusinessWeek reports.

As their revenues decline, hedge funds will spend $882 million on technology in 2009, 40% less than this year, according to TABB Group. But they will not be so quick to reduce spending on front-office trading technology.

Peter Cieszko, who was selected to become president and chief executive officer of Evergreen Investments next month, has suddenly left, “to pursue other opportunities,” the firm said.

Fidelity Investments has released New Year’s retirement savings resolutions for people in three different age brackets—those 25-35 who are just getting started; those 36-54 who are in the midst, or should be in the midst, of saving; and those 55 and older, who are heading into retirement.

Standard & Poor's Friday downgraded 11 major U.S. and European financial institutions as they continue to face pressure from complex financial risks and the weakening economy.

Pioneer Investments has hired Bill C. Taylor, a 25-year veteran of the financial services industry, to serve as senior vice president and head of relationship management and strategic alliances in the U.S., reporting to Joseph D. Kringdon, head of U.S. retail distribution and president of Pioneer Funds Distributor.

Neuberger Berman’s board of directors has selected Tom D. Seip as non-executive chairman and Robert Conti as chief executive officer. The two men succeed Peter E. Sundman, who is resigning.

Relief for retired seniors may come too late if the Treasury Department doesn’t change the rules on mandatory withdrawals from 401(k) plans this year.

GLG Partners, a hedge fund, is acquiring the U.K. fund management arm of Societe Generale. Although terms of the deal were not disclosed, the firms revealed that the unit has $8.2 billion of assets under management.