Money Management Executive Latest News

The Securities and Exchange Commission is going to revisit 12b-1 fees, according to Andrew Donohue, director of the SEC’s division of investment management, The Wall Street Journal reports.

A 65-year-old couple retiring in 2007 will need $215,000 to cover medical costs, according to Fidelity Investments. This is a 7.5% increase from expenses in 2006. Since Fidelity began estimating these costs in 2002, they have risen an average of 6.1% a year. The figure doesn’t include over-the-counter medications, dental work or long-term care.

With assets more than doubling in mutual funds in Australia since 2003, asset management firms around the world are looking to enter or expand in the market, Bloomberg reports.

Hedge fund Beacon Rock Capital has agreed to pay $475,000 to settle charges that it market timed mutual funds between 1999 and 2003, the Associated Press reports. It is the first criminal case against a hedge fund for market timing.

With an eye to gaining a foothold in China, Legg Mason is opening offices in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, Reuters reports.

The rule that the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed in 2004 that would require fund boards to be overseen by an independent chairman and be 75% comprised by independent directors, including the chairman now that the comment period ended on March 2, is about to be discarded by, writes Dow Jones column Chuck Jaffe.

Philip Goldstein, one of the principals of Bulldog Investors hedge fund, succeeded last year in overturning the hedge fund registration rule. He also is challenging a Securities and Exchange Commission rule that would require it to disclose its holdings every quarter, citing theft of intellectual property.

Critics of 401(k) plans say they have failed the nation's workers because they don't equip them with financial advice. Although the Pension Protection Act prescribes giving guidance, it is vague on what it should constitute and, therefore, hasn't prompted many plan sponsors or administrators to provide such assistance. Without clear rules, they are afraid of fiduciary liability.

Although the market was hammered this month by subprime loans, individual mutual funds aren't likely to have much exposure to the volatile sector. Most subprime lenders are small-cap companies, and, as such, funds won't have large amounts of cash invested in them. In addition, most mutual funds are diversified.

While more than a dozen pilot companies are minding their interactive Ks and Qs, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox is pushing extensible business reporting language (XBRL) beyond quarterly filings to a new way for consumers to pick investments.