Money Management Executive Latest News

A new advocacy group aims to tackle the consumer with a media campaign to explain the differences between advisers’ fiduciary standard of care and brokers’ suitability standard. The organization announced its formation yesterday. Calling itself The Committee for the Fiduciary Standard, it plans to launch a month-long campaign at some point in the near future.

Adviser confidence in the economy and the stock market grew in June, according to Rydex SGI AdvisorBenchmarking.

After postponing his retirement following the sale of Putnam Investments to Power Financial two years ago, Charles "Ed" Haldeman has stepped down from his positions as chairman of Putnam Investment Management, president of the Putnam Funds and member of Putnam Funds' board of trustees, Putnam said Tuesday.

T. Rowe Price has launched the T. Rowe U.S. Large-Cap Core Fund, which will invest in a portfolio of 50 to 75 growth and value companies alike. More than 30 analysts will contribute their best investment ideas, based on a bottom-up approach that focuses on company fundamentals, earnings potential and valuation.

Calling revenue-sharing agreements between mutual funds and 401(k) administrators “controversial,” today’s “Fund Track” column in The Wall Street Journal urges investors to pay attention to these fees, since some funds levy them and others do not. Actively managed funds in large plans, rather than index funds or small plans, tend to charge higher revenue-sharing fees, the column warns.

Noting that one-quarter of employers have either already cut or plan to cut their 401(k) match, financial advisers are reminding investors of the importance of saving for retirement.

Hedge funds appear to be on track to deliver returns of 6% or better in the second quarter, their best quarterly performance since 2000, Merrill Lynch analysts project.

Advisers to 401(k) plans recently have revisited the wisdom of offering annuities, in light of last year’s severe market downturn. But group annuities are being criticized for subjecting investors to lockup periods of five years or longer and a variety of additional fees.

Replacing a team portfolio structure with a single top manager and doing away with quantitative strategies has created a new era of accountability at Putnam Investments that appears to be having a striking effect on performance.

While Fidelity Investments agrees with most of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed changes to money market funds, it doesn’t want to see “radical changes” to the asset class, a spokesman told The Wall Street Journal.