Money Management Executive Latest News

As defined benefit plans near extinction, investment management firms are preparing to offer annuities as options to 401(k) plans, according to Pensions & Investments.

Millions of customers with retirement funds invested through Fidelity Investments could be at risk following the revelation of a damaging internal company memo, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Millions of customers with retirement funds invested through Fidelity Investments could be at risk following the revelation of a damaging internal company memo, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Recent volatility in the Japanese stock market following concerns over potential hidden losses at Internet company Livedoor has done little to change the view of many Japan mutual fund investors that Japan's economy is still fundamentally strong, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has named Susan Ferris Wyderko acting director of the division of investment management. Wyderko, a 20-year SEC veteran who most recently worked as the SEC's director of the office of investor education and assistance, replaces Paul Roye, who resigned in early 2005. Meyer Eisenberg served as acting director until last month, when he left to accept a position as visiting professor of law at Willamette University College of Law.

It's hardly any secret that regulators are carefully examining e-mail archives to uncover wrongdoing, but the recent settlement that regulators reached with UBS Financial Services reveals just how critical the electronic paper trail has become to some investigations and exactly how costly it can be when a firm doesn't retain those records.

While the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce grapple in court over whether Federal regulators have the right to dictate the composition of mutual fund company boards, the fund companies themselves appear not to be waiting for answers.

Rebranding has been a noticeable trend over the last few months, particularly in the mutual fund arena.

They are built like mutual funds, but act like hedge funds, and few investors seem to know what to make of them. That may change next month, when Morningstar launches a new rankings list to help investors better track hedge-like mutual funds. Industry insiders say the new list might help such funds gain market traction. Indices that track traditional mutual funds do not work well for those that mimic hedge funds. More than regular mutual funds, hedge-like mutual funds aim to return money regardless of what happens in the stock market overall. But in the name of making some money, hedge-like mutual funds sometimes miss out on big market upswings in order to avoid major drops. They are also more expensive to operate, difficult to explain and therefore tough to sell. But this might change once investors are given a reliable measuring stick.

Janus Capital has launched a new mutual fund that utilizes hedge fund trading tactics. Called the Janus Adviser Long/Short Fund, it is the first of its sort for the asset manager, which continues to redefine itself after the losses it suffered in the tech crash and scandal. Earlier this month, for example, Janus shareholders voted to add performance-based fees to some of its stock and bond funds, another move that, at least coincidentally, is very hedge fund-like.