Money Management Executive Latest News

It is usually a rough estimate as to how much money hedge funds and private equity companies actually make, but this has changed. A securities filing by Fortress Investment Group, a $26 billion investment company, provides a rare peek behind the curtain of secrecy that typically governs the world of alternative investments, according to The New York Times.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernake warned Friday that monitoring money flows is no longer a reliable measure for gauging economic growth or inflation, Reuters reports.

NEW YORK—The hedge fund industry can expect more consolidation, as the shooting star funds launched in the early part of the decade begin to burn out, according to David Smith, chief investment director at London-based fund-of-fund manager GAM.

Vanguard is reducing the fees on its offerings in the Vanguard 529 College Savings Plan, sponsored by Nevada, by 10 to 12 basis points, the company announced Thursday. As a result, investors will save more than $2 million a year, Vanguard estimated.

Fidelity Investments on Thursday announced it has launched on online trading education tool called Trading Knowledge center.

Forward Management, advisor to the Sierra Club Mutual Funds has launched a large-cap environmental index.

Vanguard has re-opened the Vanguard Strategic Equity Fund and increased the fund’s minimum initial investment to $10,000.

Strong inflows and higher fees boosted Man Group’s profits 40% in the first half of the year to $637 million, or 31.1 cents a share, the company announced Thursday. This was up from $455 million, or 23 cents a share, in the first half of 2005.

Three subsidiaries of The Hartford agreed to pay $55 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges that they used assets from the company’s mutual funds and annuities, in the form of commissions from directed brokerage business, to pay for marketing and distribution costs.

Investment firms, which traditionally have targeted institutional and high-net-worth investors willing to pluck down $25 million or more on risky private equity investments, are now raising money from individual investors, The Wall Street Journal reports.