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As far as improving mutual fund distribution is concerned, consider the typical odds: the average asset manager's external wholesale team is made up of 40 individuals, and if they conduct roughly 20 meetings a week, they can reach about 8,000 financial advisers every quarter.

Workers saving for retirement through their companies' 401(k) plans may have a new tool at their disposal: Roth 401(k) accounts, which companies are likely to roll out next year. A Roth 401(k) works just like a Roth individual retirement account (IRA). Workers can put in after-tax amounts in the plan and withdraw contributions and earnings on those contributions tax-free at retirement. Regular IRAs, on the other hand, allow workers to deduct yearly contributions from their taxable income but require taxes to be paid when withdrawals begin.

Edward Jones is airing a 33-minute video to its six million clients across the country that outlines President Bush's plan for Social Security reform, but the brokerage giant stops short of publicly endorsing a specific solution. Titled "The Future of Social Security," the video features panelists discussing reform options, including the hotly debated private accounts. Other options the panelists discuss are increasing taxes and raising the retirement age.

RS Investments Promotes Davis to Portfolio Manager

Goldman Sachs Asset Management plans to expand its mutual fund business by acquiring small fund families from banks looking to quit the proprietary fund business.

More than a dozen major mutual fund providers and investment advisors have settled with federal and state regulators over market-timing and late-trading practices and set aside money to reimburse investors. For plan sponsors and administrators, the challenge is figuring out what role they will play in distributing millions from those settlements to employees. Because many plan sponsors are confused about how they should handle these settlements, fund administrators would probably earn the respect of these clients if they proactively keep them informed of developments.

The NASD may have initiated fewer disciplinary actions last year, but the size of its fines got a lot bigger, it pressed a record number of cases against improper fund sales and trading, and its interest in mutual fund sales practices will continue to be a priority in the coming year. The agency collected $102 million in fines, up from $33.3 million in 2003.

The NASD lists its total number of registered representatives as approximately 660,000. The annual turnover rate of representatives in the securities industry, according to the Securities Industry Association, is about 19%.

For BNY Jaywalk, a subsidiary of the Bank of New York, the recent move from its midtown Manhattan location to the bank's storied offices at One Wall Street was more than a validation of the division's enhanced importance at the bank. Jaywalk's newfound prestige speaks to the growing importance of an entire industry.

The so-called mass affluent hold an enormous share of U.S. investing wealth, at last count some $6 trillion in assets. As the Baby Boomers age, the mass-affluent population and its wealth are growing. American Express Financial Advisors (AEFA) has always catered to this big group, defined as those with between $100,000 and $1 million to invest. But as the competition for this market intensifies, AEFA is making a bigger push to retain existing mass-affluent clients - and to attract new ones.