- Money Management Executive
The Massachusetts Securities Division has issued subpoenas to 15 banks and broker/dealers as part of an investigation into variable annuity to seniors. Some of the inquiries stem from customer complaints and others are part of an effort to learn more about variable annuity sales, reports the Boston Globe.
February 22 - Money Management Executive
Fund tracker Lipper reports that flows into popular exchange-traded funds exceeded net flows to domestic equity funds on a monthly basis for the first time ever. ETF inflows were between $3.0 billion and $4.0 billion for the month, whereas flows into domestic equity funds were negative $2.8 billion.
February 22 - Money Management Executive
American Express Co.'s financial advisory unit violated its fiduciary duty to clients when it provided secret incentives to its sales force to sell poorly performing in-house mutual funds, instead of investments from competitors, New Hampshire regulators allege, according to The Wall Street Journal.
February 22 - Money Management Executive
A Securities and Exchange Commission settlement reached with New York-based brokerage firm Brean Murray & Co. sheds light on federal laws that securities firm Bear Stearns violated when it helped brokers at Brean Murray make illegal after-hours mutual fund trades, Bloomberg News reports.
February 22 - Money Management Executive
Paul F. Roye, director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's division of investment management, announced Friday that he will be leaving the Commission to pursue opportunities in the private sector.
February 22 - Money Management Executive
Investment bank Lazard has revealed that the Securities and Exchange Commission and NASD are investigating gifts and gratuities it gave and received. The company stated in the amended prospectus for its planned $850 million initial public offering that it had received a letter from the NASD as part of an industry-wide probe of gifts and gratuities.
February 21 - Money Management Executive
Investors are diversifying and how. More than two-thirds of stock and bond net inflows in 2004 were part of a structured asset allocation program, according to research firm Strategic Insight.
February 21 - Money Management Executive
Beginning next Monday, funds will begin complying with a new Securities and Exchange Commission requirement that they must disclose how they structure portfolio managers' compensation and how much these fund skippers have invested in the funds they oversee. Funds that launch after Feb. 28 must disclose the information in their registration documents, while existing funds must report the information in their annual prospectuses. The SEC rule aims to better align managers' interests with those of long-term shareholders. But the rule has its share of dissenters within the industry. James Riepe, vice chairman of T. Rowe Price and chairman of the Investment Company Institute, said the rule suggests that a portfolio manager or fund analyst only cares if they "have a significant investment in that fund." A few firms have started linking managers' pay to performance, including Janus Capital, which starting Jan. 1, is now tying portfolio managers' bonuses to one- and three-year performance.
February 21 - Money Management Executive
In a move that may indicate investment advisors are rethinking their footing within the registered hedge funds-of-funds marketplace, Aspen Strategic Alliances (ASA) of Atlanta, advisor to four hedge funds-of-funds that commenced operations less than one year ago, will pull the plug on the funds, liquidate assets and return investments to investors.
February 21 - Money Management Executive
Jim Stueve is a habitual "Crackberry" user and has no problem admitting his addiction.
February 21