Money Management Executive Latest News

Wirehouses are losing customers, assets and, according to some analysts, their brokers as affluent investors increasingly turn to independent channels for advice.

Amvescap, parent to the AIM and Invesco fund brands, indicated last Tuesday its second quarter profit had fallen 7% to 60.3 million pounds, or $106.9 million, from 59.1 million the previous quarter. Analyst consensus had forecast that figure at 62.2 million pounds.

Nuveen Investments of Chicago announced Monday it has agreed to buy Santa Barbara Asset Management.

Federated Investors has reported a 25% decline in second-quarter profit partly because of a charge the Pittsburgh investment management company had to take related to improper trading.

Putnam Investments indicated Monday it will oppose Washington Mutual's plan to take over Providian Financial, of which it owns 7.5% of stock.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan swore Christopher Cox in last Wednesday as the 28th chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

CPI Qualified Plan Consultants, a third-party recordkeeping and administration company, has announced that Christina Gregory has assumed responsibilities as regional manager for the Southeast region.

Once reserved for only the wealthiest of individual and institutional investors, private equity funds are now targeting more high-net-worth individuals by slashing the minimum investment to as little as $25,000. That's a far cry from the $10 million ante demanded by some of the more expensive funds.

Old Mutual is starting a protected hedge fund that guarantees investors a minimum return. The Old Mutual Prosper 80 fund will give investors a return of at least 4% over the Bank of England base rate, according to ifaonline.co.uk. Furthermore, the hedge fund will never return less than 80% of the highest account value.

The nation's largest proxy advisory firm is backing Harvard College's attempt to liquidate the Korea Equity Fund.