Money Management Executive Latest News

With capital gains taxes this year expected to reach levels unseen since the tech boom, ironically, there are a number of mutual funds that are poised to post big profits but tiny tax bills to their investors.

A bill recently introduced in the U.S House of Representatives would force mutual fund complexes and other financial services companies to improve the security of sensitive financial consumer data, and perhaps even require them to provide free data monitoring to investors whose information has been breached.

Abigail P. Johnson, daughter of Fidelity Chairman and CEO Edward C. Johnson III, may not make the cut when her father retires, according to an opinion piece in Business Week. Ned Johnson says that because he has no immediate plans to retire, he has not chosen a successor, and should he be unable to make a decision on the matter, then company guidelines will decide.

At the inaugural CCOutreach National Seminar, held last Monday at the Washington headquarters of the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox spoke about compliance issues faced by chief compliance officers, and the role these compliance professionals play within in their firms.

A bi-partisan committee tasked with simplifying the Federal tax code recently delivered a pair of recommendations to the U.S. Treasury Department, but if the reception they've received from the money management industry serves as any indication, they're bound for a pitched battle on Capitol Hill.

Fees and expenses incurred by investors who buy mutual funds have been declining since 1980, and that continued into 2004, according to a new report from the Investment Company Institute of Washington.

John Hancock Financial Services has launched a new multi-million dollar advertising campaign to bring attention to its expanded fund lineup and strong brand in the marketplace.

Putnam Investments, one of the first companies to be embroiled in the mutual fund trading scandal, continues to pay the price for its involvement, as investors yanked another $1.8 billion from the fund complex in September, bringing its net outflows year-to-date to $15 billion. Putnam is now the ninth-largest U.S. mutual fund firm.

Morgan Stanley has distributed $50 million in fund restitutions to investors who bought funds between Jan. 1, 2000 and Nov. 17, 2003 and were not told about incentives brokers received for selling certain funds or the higher fees they earned through B shares. Morgan Stanley either credited the payments to clients' accounts or issued them a check. The payments were the result of a settlement the firm reached with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 17, 2003.

State Street Corp., Boston Financial Data Services and DST Systems have published a guide for mutual fund directors on new regulation best practices. Called "Building Investor Confidence" and available to existing clients, it includes releases and speeches from the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as industry articles.