Money Management Executive Latest News

Recent hikes in oil prices and far-too-turbulent markets may have caused unwanted stress for investors, but Steven Lehman thinks he might be able to provide a glimpse of hope to pessimists by ditching the traditional pattern of investing domestically, according to The Wall Street Journal.

For the next few days, 1,500 fund managers from across the nation will gather in Chicago for the 2008 Morningstar Investment Conference, with the hopes of hearing new ideas and investment strategies that can help them reengage their clients in investments.

Capital One Funds’ board has approved a transfer of assets from each of its six fund portfolios to comparable funds at Fidelity, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The agreement, pending shareholder approval, would go into effect in October.

Lately, many frustrated preferred investors have searched for an opportunity to cash in on the subprime crisis and move on. Responding directly to investor woes, several closed-end fund companies like Nuveen Investments Inc. and Eaton Vance Corp. decided that they would be offering investors a chance to redeem their auction-rate preferred securities, The Wall Street Journal reports

Due to prolonged weak results, the Vanguard Group announced that David Fassnacht has been replaced as the portfolio manager of the $19.2 billion Windsor Fund (VWNDX) and the $490 million Vanguard Capital Value Fund (VCVLX), Dow Jones reports.

Investing in commodities—especially energy—has always been a way to make money in a weak economy, and this past year was no exception, Kiplinger’s reports. As the economy suffered, pension funds, hedge funds and mutual funds linked to commodities grew. However, as crude oil reaches $135 a barrel, the success of commodity investment might be facing a change

Since the redesign of JPMorgan’s Fund Management adviser website, usage of the site has increased, resulting in benefits for both advisers and investors. The improved design and usability of the site is a collaboration of the top practices of other successful financial management sites, offering improvements in design and convenience for advisers’ usage.

Morningstar has upgraded its investment planning site, Advisor Workstation Office Edition. Of primary focus are the additions to the asset allocation and portfolio construction functions of the site.

WELLESLEY, Mass.—Mutual fund wholesaling isn’t what it used to be. Today, highly sophisticated gatekeepers at broker/dealers go by the name of “Fund Selection Units,” where they hold mutual funds up to a whole new set of demanding criteria akin to the rigors that pension plans put investments choices through.

In light of the crisis of confidence in rating agencies following the subprime crisis, the Securities and Exchange Commission will diminish the importance of money market fund managers’ reliance on such agencies when investing in short-term debt.