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New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer filed a lawsuit against two hedge funds and their principals Thursday for fraudulently timing mutual funds through Security Trust Co. Named in the suit are Samaritan Asset Management, Johnson Capital Management, and their principals, Edward T. Owens and Michael A. Johnson. Spitzer’s office said the hedge funds disguised timing to “fly below the radar” by piggybacking them to the investment accounts of retirement plans and by varying the amounts of the buy and sell trades. “When trading the piggyback accounts, try to adjust the buy and sell amounts,” an employee of Security Trust advised Johnson in an e-mail, “meaning, do not complete the sell trades for the same amount as the buy trade from the previous day. Same with [exchanges]. Do not use the same amount—vary each in and out trade. This will assist us in trying not to bring attention to the trading.” The suit, filed in New York Supreme Court, seeks to prevent the defendants from market timing funds and restitution of their ill-gotten financial gains. The case came as a result of a previous lawsuit Spitzer brought against Grant Seeger, the CEO of Security Trust, and William Kenyon, the firm’s president. Seeger pled guilty in 2005 in New York Supreme Court to second-degree grand larceny and a violation of the Martin Act, while Kenyon pled guilty to violation of the Martin Act. The staff of Money Management Executive ("MME") has prepared these capsule summaries based on reports published by the news sources to which they are attributed. Those news sources are not associated with MME, and have not prepared, sponsored, endorsed, or approved these summaries.

The PIMCO All Asset Fund, a fund-of-fund with $13 billion in assets, has quadrupled its commodity exposure to 12%, Bloomberg reports. Likewise, a Japan version of the All Asset Fund has also quadrupled its commodity holdings from 5% to 20%.

The Investment Company Institute and its related body, the Independent Directors Council, named new appointments on Wednesday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is examining whether Allegiant Asset Management accepted kickback payments from its fund administrator to pay for marketing, the investment management firm’s parent company, National City, indicated in an SEC filing.

Before he leaves his position as New York attorney general to become governor of the state, Eliot Spitzer may unleash one, perhaps two, more whopper enforcement actions against major Wall Street firms, David Brown, the A.G.’s investment protection chief indicated at a Reuters Investment Banking Summit in New York.

WisdomTree Investments has registered 31 exchange-traded funds with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing includes sector funds focusing on communications, financial services, real estate investment trusts and utilities. It also includes funds focusing on Latin America, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Asia, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. WisdomTree has 30 fundamentally weighted exchange-traded funds listed on the New York Stock Exchange, including the first 10 pure international sector ETFs.

Hedge funds posted gains last month for the third month in a row, but their gains trailed the average U.S. stock mutual fund and the broader equities market.

After a four-year slump that halved the Shanghai index, it is up a whopping 60% so far this year, inspiring Chinese investors to once again return to mutual funds and stocks, Reuters reports.

The 401(k) turned 25 this month, and with that milestone, experts hope that it will continue to become more streamlined in the years ahead so that investors are prepared for retirement, The Wall Street Journal reports.

John Hancock Retirement Plan Services announced Tuesday that it is offering eight target-date funds and one retirement income fund to 401(k) investors.