Portfolio

EU to Propose Hedge Fund, Private Equity Regs

Stressing that the reorganization is not motivated by the financial crisis but a strong desire to improve accountability and, with that, performance, Putnam Investments Chief Executive Officer Robert Reynolds announced the firm is doing away with team-managed equity mutual funds. Instead, those funds will be run by single portfolio managers.

Talk about market capitulation.

If investors have learned one thing from the financial crisis, it is that, eventually, level heads and long-term investing will prevail. In that spirit, sister publication Investment Dealers' Digest recently spoke with a man known for having one of the most level heads in the industry, John Bogle, founder of Vanguard Investments, about what he sees for mutual funds and other investment firms in the years ahead.

The financial turmoil in the markets is far from over, and mutual fund firms can expect assets to continue to decline further, investors to remain skittish, and regulators to be reactive well into 2009, experts say.

In a widely anticipated move last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission unanimously approved a requirement for mutual funds to send investors a short-form, summary prospectus.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson wants to beef up hedge fund regulation as part of his plan for a systemic risk regulator, he said Thursday.

OppenheimerFunds has appointed William F. Glavin, Jr. as CEO, effective January 1. Current Chairman and CEO John V. Murphy will remain the chairman and continue to serve as president and a director/trustee of the funds until his retirement at the end of next year.

Americans’ consumer attitudes and behaviors have shifted dramatically in the past six months, according to an October study by AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company.

Reserve Funds has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Treasury’s Temporary Guarantee Agreement Program for Money Market Funds, whereby the Treasury will purchase any outstanding securities in the Reserve U.S. Government Fund not sold by January 3.