Money Management Executive Latest News

Chet Currier, who wrote on personal finance, the markets and mutual funds for the Associated Press for 29 years before joining Bloomberg in 1999, succumbed to prostate cancer at age 62.

Although there has been a smattering of reports to the contrary, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College says 45% of American households are headed straight for a retirement crisis.

With the problems in the subprime mortgage market affecting the broader credit markets, bank loan mutual funds, which typically offer stable returns, are suddenly suffering losses, and investors are yanking their money out, The Wall Street Journal reports. According to AMG Data Services, investors pulled $461 million from the funds in the week ended July 25. That’s a significant amount, given that the funds collectively have $42.8 billion in assets under management, according to Financial Research Corp.

As investors across the world pour money into overseas markets, the danger of one country’s woes affecting other markets is becoming more real, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reports.

The average amount saved in a 401(k) account rose 17% in 2006, the fourth straight year of growth, according to a report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute and the Investment Company Institute analyzing the holdings of 20 million 401(k) participants.

Judging from recent summary judgments, a growing number of courts are rejecting the argument that mutual fund companies charge retail investors more than institutional investors, The National Law Journal reports.

Asked which of the presidential candidates they would select as having a positive impact on the U.S. economy and investing, 36% of financial advisers point to Rudy Giuliani, followed by Mitt Romney (30%), John McCain (15%), Barack Obama (7%), Hillary Rodham Clinton (7%) and John Edwards (5%). This is according to a quarterly survey, the “Brinker Barometer,” released by Brinker Capital. For the second quarter, the firm interviewed 250 financial advisers affiliated with insurance companies and independent broker/dealers, as well as those in sole practice.

Jeffrey Carney has joined Bank of America as president, retirement and global wealth and investment management client solutions.

With the market becoming ever more volatile, investors are flocking to money market funds, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Assets in taxable money market funds are now $2.14 trillion, a record amount, according to iMoneyNet.com.

Advisers to 401(k) plans expect automatic enrollment and escalation to be the two most significant developments of defined contribution plans over the next three years, Putnam Investments found through a poll of 82 401(k) advisers.