Money Management Executive Latest News

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.

U.S. Rep. Michael G. Oxley, chairman of the House Financial Services and the man who helped shape the new mutual fund regulations in the wake of scandal, will leave quite a legacy, friends and colleagues say.

Although Peter A. Langerman is not on the board of Pennsylvania based Sovereign Bancorp, he is making his outrage at chairman Jay S. Sidhu known to its voting members.

Morningstar Senior Analyst Russel Kinnel has released his top five mutual funds for 2005.

Ken Gregory, president of Litman/Gregory Asset Management LLC, has a sharp eye for finding great portfolio managers.

Mutual funds that strive for absolute returns in all kinds of markets rather than beating a particular benchmark are gaining in popularity, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Mercer Bullard, president and founder of Fund Democracy Inc., is urging states not to get into Section 529 education savings plans. In a recent paper in the University of Cincinnati Law Review, Bullard claims that having states participate in the 529 business gives them too much influence in an industry that should be controlled by the private sector, a monopoly, and shields them from regulations guiding the mutual fund industry.

Hedge funds that focus on short selling have had varied results in the past few years. However, as stock prices have fallen in recent weeks, short-sellers have been the best-performing hedge fund managers this year, The New York Times reports.

Regulatory concerns may force the sale of Refco's brokerage unit to take place as a shift in customer accounts rather than an out-and-out sale, Reuters reports. An acquisition handled this way would leave the company open to regulatory action and penalties, a source familiar with the sale told The Wall Street Journal.

The Vanguard Group announced that Paul D. Kaplan, portfolio manager of Vanguard GNMA Fund and co-manager of Vanguard Wellington(TM) Fund, will retire on June 30, 2006.