Money Management Executive Latest News

MFS Investment Management has formed a defined contribution investment only (DCIO) business development office, to be headed by Matt Gannon, who now assumes the title of senior vice president and director of DCIO and strategic alliances.

While leading banks, mortgage originators and brokers, insurers and investment banks have all taken serious hits from the financial crisis, investment management firms—most notably mutual fund companies—have been holding strong, buoyed by a steady stream of fees.

Banks and other financial companies that are willing to stomach a few more quarters of volatility could find themselves well positioned to acquire wealth management companies or talent, according to analysts and industry executives.

Despite the earth-shaking, “extraordinary” events in September, and the stock market declines “of historic proportions,” financial advisers are still telling investors to stay the course and predicting the financial crisis will continue as a recession through next year—but won’t worsen into a Depression, Money magazine and the Orlando Sentinel report.

While reports have surfaced in recent weeks of incredibly wide discounts on closed-end funds that signal undue risk, rather than buying opportunities, some financial advisers say that with a little homework, there are, actually, some wise buys to be had on closed-end funds, Dow Jones reports. Further, with most closed-end funds paying dividends, that is yet another strong case for considering such funds.

For many of the same reasons exchange-traded funds are so popular in bull runs, ETFs are appealing to investors in the market downturn; investors awaiting a turnaround in the economy, but not knowing which pockets will come out first ahead, are seeking broad market exposure, The Wall Street Journal reports.

OppenheimerFunds Retirement Services has produced a white paper to publicize its retirement assistance program designed to help 401(k) plan participants take advantage of their plans' benefits. The white paper focuses on the value of OppenheimerFunds' Tru(k)ourse, an enhancement to the firm's Pinnacle and Record(k)eeper Pro platforms. Tru(k)ourse is designed to help plan sponsors by combining automatic enrollment, automatic deferral increases and a Qualified Default Investment Alternative (QDIA).

Needles Now President at Touchstone Investments

Paulson Outlines Recapitalization For Banks, Thrifts

Few people know as much about mutual funds as Matthew P. Fink. For more than 40 years, Fink dedicated his career to serving the industry and its 88 million shareholders through his work for the Investment Company Institute, serving as its president from 1991 to 2004.