Money Management Executive Latest News

With funding of public pension plans generally improving, primarily due to equity markets bouncing back, their interest in hedge funds is waning, HedgeWorld.com reports. A recent Wilshire Consulting study of assets and liabilities of 104 city and county retirement systems, uncovered that pension plan funding has improved much since 2002.

Bruce Norgren, CCO, and Michael Novak, chief legal counsel, have both departed Manulife Securities International, for reasons having to do with the recent allegations brought forth by the Ontario Securities Commission against collapse hedge fund Portus Alternative Asset Management, The Globe and Mail reports. Manulife had a referral agreement with the C$800 million hedge fund.

According to Hennessee Group LLC, September proved to be a strong month for hedge funds. The funds' performance rose by 1.7%, a higher growth than equity and bond markets, The Wall Street Journal reports. During the month, the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index rose 0.69% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.83%.

Shares of publicly traded mutual fund companies rose an average of 6.6% in the first nine months of the year, as opposed to 2.8% for the S&P 500, and one high-profile analyst expects firms to report strong earnings for the third quarter, MarketWatch reports.

The NASD has fined eight broker/dealers, including one mutual fund distributor, Lord Abbett Distributor, $7.75 million for giving favorable treatment to mutual funds in exchange for earning trading commissions on directed-brokerage business. The sanctions are the latest in what NASD says is an ongoing enforcement sweep to detect violations of its anti-reciprocal rule. In June, NASD fined 15 brokerages, including six subsidiaries of AIG, $34 million for these violations.

In a case that's becoming all-too-familiar in the hedge fund industry, the Ontario Securities Commission is charging the former president of Portus Alternative Management with fraud and destroying documents, but it appears he has fled the country.

Riding the popularity of hedge funds, as well as a flat market, a number of money managers are launching mutual funds that deliver "absolute" returns. If recent history is any indication, however, they're success might be short-lived, a report form The Wall Street Journal reveals.

Skandia Chairman Bernt Magnusson stepped down Friday, saying he did not think it was appropriate for him to continue leading the firm at a time when the majority of the board does not back his belief that selling Skandia to Old Mutual is a smart move.

Requiring hedge funds to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission, beginning in February, will protect investors to some degree, as they will be required to divulge any history of disciplinary action and the SEC will begin to randomly audit these investment firms, The New York Times suggests.

Lawyers in the case against former Bank of America broker Theodore C. Sihpol will meet Oct. 20 to discuss whether or not he will be retried on the four counts for which Justice James A. Yates declared a mistrial, Dow Jones reports.