Money Management Executive Latest News

Morningstar's Investor Conference in Chicago may have echoed with many of the same old solutions of the past, but for those who listened carefully to Mohamed El-Erian's message, "This time it's different."

In November of last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed a rule to decrease the prospectuses of mutual fund firms to summaries of around three pages that could be accessed online, Mortgage Banking reports. According to a report produced by research firm Aite Group, if this rule takes effect, the financial services industry stands to save more than $65 million per year in printing and postage in addition to rescuing 42,000 trees annually.

In light of Legg Mason's recent struggles and dropping stock price, the company has slashed the pay of CEO Mark Fetting and its founder Raymond "Chip" Mason.

Hennion and Walch, a small New Jersey fund firm, is introducing ETFs into 401k plans by wrapping them in mutual funds. Chief Investment Officer Kevin Mahn said the SmartGrowth ETF Lipper Optimal Conservative Index, SmartGrowth ETF Lipper Optimal Moderate Index and SmartGrowth ETF Lipper Optimal Growth Index funds have made their way into 401(k) plans administered by leading companies, including Fidelity Investments.

Cash-strapped banks are hoping the Federal Reserve will loosen restrictions keeping private-equity firms from giving them capital.

Adviser confidence in the economy and stock market declined in June, according to Rydex AdvisorBenchmarking. The Rydex Advisor Confidence Index fell 3.07%, to 96.93, from a month earlier, due to heightened concerns about rising energy costs, higher inflation and the subprime mortgage crisis.

Merk Investments Recruits Former St. Louis Fed Prez

Despite their tremendous growing popularity for their set-it-and-forget it convenience of automatically reallocating equity-to-fixed income ratios every year for 401(k) investors, target-date mutual funds may not be the best option for defined contribution plans.

Back in 2005, the chances that Amvescap, now Invesco, would make a 360-degree turnaround seemed virtually impossible, but with a little bit of time and the addition of Martin Flanagan as chief executive officer, the unlikely actually occurred.

Mutual fund companies and other financial services firms continue to battle one another for wealth management talent even though companies are forced to pay hefty salaries that crimp profits.