Money Management Executive Latest News

Vanguard Group, the nation's second-largest mutual-fund company, has decided to warm up to full-service brokerages, an old rival of the company, in an attempt to reverse its falling behind in the race to grab investors for exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the Associated Press reports.

Principal Financial Group, one of the biggest sellers of 401(k) retirement plans in the United States, is setting up shop in China in a joint venture with China Construction Bank. Headquartered in Beijing, CCB-Principal Asset Management will market mutual funds in the People's Republic of China and be 65% owned by China Construction, 25% by Principal and 10% by China Huadian Group.

The discount brokerage industry shrunk further yesterday with the announcement that online giant E-Trade Financial would acquire rival HarrisDirect in a $700 million deal.

The NASD has issued the controversial Notice to Members regarding equity index annuities (EIAs) that has sent ripples through the annuity and brokerage industries over the past several months. Notice to Members 05-50, Member Responsibilities for Supervising Sales of Unregistered Equity-Indexed Annuities, advises broker/dealers to consider treating all EIAs like securities.

In the wake of the London subway and bus bombings, top concerns among affluent Americans have shifted from the economy to terrorism, safety, and security, according to a survey to be released today.

Two former Citigroup executives, the CEO and the CFO of the mutual fund unit, Citigroup Asset Management, were accused yesterday of kicking back tens of millions of dollars in mutual fund savings to the company's transfer agent, rather than to investors.

The people T. Rowe Price's Media and Telecommunications Fund have been doing their own accounting private investigating and it's proved to a lucrative business.

Private equity firms and hedge funds are finally learning to live together, despite how wary the former is over how the latter is encroaching on its turf, an Aug. 5 report from Reuters indicates.

Alliance Capital Management is among about 20 companies under investigation by the New York Stock Exchange for improperly identifying short-sale stock transactions, the asset manager said in its quarterly report to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Office of Thrift Supervision, the chief regulator of the U.S. savings-and-loan industry, has advised Washington Mutual that its application to buy Providian Financial is complete. It won't hold hearings on the proposed deal, an Aug. 5 report from Reuters said.