Money Management Executive Latest News

On the heels of its deal with BlackRock and pressure from Princeton University, Merrill Lynch has decided not to name its mutual funds unit Princeton Portfolio Research and Management, the Daily Princetonian reports.

The "Rodney Dangerfields" of the mutual fund world over the past number of years, receiving little respect, money market funds, once again, are finally having their day in the sun, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

The union of Merrill Lynch's and BlackRock's asset management arms, the biggest deal ever, is likely to continue to boost the stocks of publicly traded asset management firms, Bloomberg reports. In fact, over the past year, shares of the world's 50 biggest money firms have risen an average 42% 3/4 nearly four times the Morgan Stanley Capital International's World Index.

Strong inflows and a robust stock market are driving continued growth in the mutual fund industry in 2006, Strategic Insight reported Tuesday. Assets in mutual funds in the U.S. reached $9.9 trillion at the end of January.

MIAMI -- If the Securities and Exchange Commission truly aims to increase transparency within the mutual fund industry, it should stop requiring companies to deliver paper disclosure materials and encourage electronic innovations in shareholder communication, said Robert C. Pozen, chairman of MFS Investment Management.

Watch out BGI, because Claymore Investments has just launched an ETF that will be traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The FTSE RAFI Canadian Index Fund will the first to be launched in Canada, according to the National Post.

After a year filled with mergers, one may think that mutual funds that specialize in investing in this sector, would likewise surge. However, despite the recent increase in mergers, these funds are delivering lackluster returns, according to The Wall Street Journal.

As more and more employers shift from defined benefit to defined contribution plans, trustees of California Public Employees' Retirement System continue to buck the trend, and highlight the difficulty of converting public plans, according to the Sacramento Bee. .

It's been two years since Morningstar began issuing its stewardship grades, where the Chicago-based analyst rates mutual funds on items ranging from regulatory issues to corporate cultures, and along the way they've picked up a few, little-known tidbits about some well-known funds.

Newly minted Securities and Exchange Commission General Counsel Brain Cartwright told the Mutual Fund Directors Forum last week that going forward, independent directors would serve as the centerpiece of the mutual fund regulatory regime.