Money Management Executive Latest News

Charles Schwab has announced that for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2005, the company's net income was $187 million, which is impressive when compared to the $53 million for the fourth quarter of 2004. For the year ended Dec. 31, the company's net income was a whopping $725 million, compared with the net income of $286 million in 2004.

A three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has unanimously decided to dismiss the securities suit brought forth by investors in a mutual fund that lost $900 million by waiting to sell its holdings in Enron until two days prior to the firm's bankruptcy, according to Law.com.

Janus Capital Group has launched a new mutual fund that utilizes hedge fund trading tactics, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

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 Chicago-based Morningstar launches a new rankings list, to help investors better track hedge-like mutual funds, according to the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader.

Although hedge fund returns have declined in the past 10 years, their annual fees have steadily climbed, Bloomberg reports. Today, the average hedge fund charges annual fees of 1.44% of assets, a 13% increase from 1.27% five years ago. And that doesn't include the 19.2% that hedge funds skim off performance returns.

Rebranding might be the next hot mutual fund trend, Gregg Wolper of Morningstar writes. Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley are in the process of determining new names for their mutual fund families, while Schwab recently rechristened its funds Laudus and Gabelli renamed eight of its funds GAMCO.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's proposal to increase disclosure of executive compensation is currently under approval with Federal regulators, but some worry that the new rule may not affect or change how much CEOs are earning.

Canary Capital Partners and its former managing principal, Edward Stern, reached a $10 million settlement with New Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey, the attorney general's office announced Tuesday. The fine is being imposed for market timing and late trading mutual funds and the mutual fund sub-accounts of variable annuities to the detriment of long-term shareholders.

The Vanguard Group has announced that Fortune Magazine has recognized it as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" in 2006. Ranking 60th on the list, this year marks the sixth consecutive year, in which Vanguard has been recognized by Fortune as a top employer.

Victory Capital Management has announced that it will be acquiring Austin Capital Management, a Texas-based firm that will be bringing a new product line and a team of investment professionals to Victory.