Portfolio

WASHINGTON - The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's $144 million enforcement order against Wachovia Corp. is likely to force banks to step up oversight of telemarketing customers.

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The U.S. House of Representatives is warning that raising long-term capital gains on mutual fund investors any higher than they already are will seriously impair the markets, shareholders and, eventually, retirees.

BOSTON - Retirement income planners, along with mutual and insurance fund executives, are wracking their brains to come up with new products that are low cost, easy to use and easy to sell.

Dreyfus Corp., a dominant force in money market funds as well as the high-net-worth market through its parent company, Mellon, will become a leader in long-term mutual funds and other investments, if its new chief executive, Jon Baum, meets his goal.

Pointing to illiquidity and poor fair valuation conditions, two ranking Congressmen have asked Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox to cut mutual fund portfolio managers a break on redemptions of auction-rate securities.

Absolute-return mutual funds that seek to provide investors with positive returns whether equity markets are rising or falling, are growing in rapid numbers in today's volatile market and hoping to attract a loyal investor following.

Saudi Arabia has launched its first sovereign-wealth fund, aimed at maximizing long-term rates of return.

Rydex Investments has launched a fund of funds that offers exposure to the alternatives marketplace.

John Hancock Funds has elected interim board chairman James Carlin as independent Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Carlin has been a trustee since 1992.