Money Management Executive Latest News

Investment management firms are increasingly allowing their managers to run both hedge and mutual funds, and with the fees so more lucrative for hedge funds, regulators and lawmakers worry that investors in mutual funds will get the short end of the stick, The Wall Street Journal reports.

RiskMetrics Group has formed an agreement to acquire Institutional Shareholder Services, the two companies announced Wednesday. Both are looking to expand beyond proxy voting, corporate governance and risk management solutions to offer data, analytics and investor advice. ISS, which had been up for sale since the summer, will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of the acquiring firm, with CEO John M. Connolly continuing in his role at ISS.

In the first eight months of the year, Fidelity experienced $3.3 billion in net flows to its long-term funds, while American Funds reaped $46 billion and Vanguard $23 billion, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, citing Financial Research Corp. data.

Shortly after Harry Lange took the reins of Fidelity Magellan a year ago, he was being hailed for strong performance, Fortune reports.

Assets of the member firms of Old Mutual Asset Management reached $237.3 billion by the end of the third quarter, up $6.5 billion, or 2.8% from the second quarter.

The Bank of New York’s Pershing unit has added First American Funds to FundVest, its no-transaction-fee mutual fund platform.

Wells Fargo Funds Management has launched the Wells Fargo Advantage Strategic Small Cap Value Fund, a multi-manager fund that will be run by three teams of small-cap value managers.

While retirement is still the No. 1 goal of a majority of investors, its importance has fallen slightly since 2003, and other financial concerns have risen in importance. This is according to a survey released by Mercer Human Resources Consulting.

With all of the hullabaloo over exchange-traded funds and all of the major indexes taken as ETF benchmarks, more and more of these funds are creating custom indexes or tracking little-known indexes, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Morgan Stanley announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to acquire FrontPoint Partners, a $5.5 billion hedge fund that specializes in absolute returns. Morgan expects to close on the deal in December. The company didn’t disclose what it is paying for the firm but said that it plans to continue to expand its alternative investments capabilities.