Money Management Executive Latest News

Both Congress and the Department of Labor are working independently to strengthen oversight of 401(k) plans, most notably eliminating hidden fees, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The Internal Revenue Service is reportedly scrutinizing donor-advised funds for possible abuse by individual donors, sponsoring organizations, such as endowments, and even recipients. These funds allow an investor to add money to an account from which gifts are made to their charities of choice over time. A donor may deduct the full amount of the initial contribution from his or her tax return.

BOSTON-Provisions within the Pension Protection Act that allow 401(k) plan administrators to offer investment advice to participants at first had many abuzz with the possibilities of marketing add-ons to plan sponsors and building longstanding relationships with employees.

In the race to prepare for retirement, investors and fund complexes are missing out on one big opportunity: the Individual Retirement Account (IRA).

With competition so fierce in the hedge fund industry, particularly for institutional money or to be selected for a fund-of-funds platform, hedge funds must pay greater attention to risk management, valuation and transparency, according to a Deloitte Research report, "Precautions That Pay Off: Risk Management and Valuation Practices in the Hedge Fund Industry."

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Fred Alger Management and Fred Alger & Co. will pay $40 million to settle charges that the firms allow both market timing and late trading in the Alger Fund. The SEC found that the companies failed to disclose the violations to the board of directors of the fund.

Last week, former New York Attorney General and current New York Governor Eliot Spitzer backed a new McKinsey report calling for less regulation, joining New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) in doing so. It certainly marked an about-face for Spitzer, who was largely elected governor of the state due to his crusades on Wall Street.

American Century CEO, President Lyons to Retire; Thomas to Take Position

The days of people turning 65 and automatically flocking to Florida for golf, sun and early-bird specials are dwindling. In fact, Americans are taking different approaches to retirement.

In a rather unusual case, the Securities and Exchange Commission sanctioned Kelmoore Investment Co. of Palo Alto, Calif., and fined the company $100,000 for misleading disclosures regarding the investment advisory fees it charged on five proprietary mutual funds, two of which were only available within variable annuity contracts and were liquidated at the end of 2005 due to low asset levels.