Portfolio

The downfall of Enron of Houston evidently has not caused some retirement plan participants to be wary of how much they have invested in their company's stock, according to a recent survey by Boston Research Group of Hopkinton, Mass.

What does it take to find a financial advisor well versed in 529 plans and other college savings vehicles?

Transamerica Retirement Services, a Los Angeles-based retirement services provider that specializes in small to mid-sized companies, has found that smaller companies are moving faster than anticipated to help their employees take advantage of increased retirement plan contribution limits set forth in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001.

AIM Management may not yearn to be the next Donald Trump. But the Houston fund group is taking the plunge into the small but expanding world of closed-end real estate funds.

When UBS Global Asset Management of New York agreed to license Chicago-based Morningstar's new family of style-based stock indexes as the basis for new U.S. and European exchange-traded funds, the investment manager bought more than a new type of index. They bought the Morningstar name.

Two top executives with Kinetics Asset Management have left the White Plains, N.Y., fund group best known for its once high-flying Internet fund. Kinetics' former chief executive officer and chief operating officer have spun off a new alternative investment advisory firm and registered the first of several novel open-end mutual funds that will employ various alternative investment strategies.

Are mutual fund firms that develop managed account products competing with themselves? Yes and no, according to industry executives.

Hartford Life of Hartford, Conn., is expanding its 401(k) small-business operations, a niche that has been largely ignored by many other retirement savings plan providers. So far, the strategy has worked for Hartford Life. It expanded its 401(k) business by 55% in 2001, with sales of $850 million.

Touchstone Securities announced last week that Patrick Bannigan has joined the firm as senior vice president and officer in charge of Touchstone Investments. In that role, he will be responsible for the sales and profitability of the Touchstone Funds, including the firm's variable annuities.

Rydex Funds has launched a sector rotation fund into the teeth of a market still skeptical about sector funds after the carnage of the past two years.