Money Management Executive Latest News

Fund-tracking firm Morningstar has launched a set of Internet-based applications to help advisers at brokerage firms comply with federal regulations requiring them to inform clients of mutual fund breakpoint discounts on front-end sales loads.

Federated Investors announced last week that it is engaged in talks with state and federal regulators to resolve previously reported trading abuses at its fund unit and that two of its officers could face enforcement actions.

Janus Capital confirmed last week that its trustees have approved a new compensation plan that ties portfolio manager pay more closely to the performance of its mutual funds, advancing the interests of its shareholders and providing further proof of its nascent recovery.

A position once delegated to shuffling papers and answering telephones, the internal wholesaler is taking on greater significance as mutual fund companies search for ways to cut costs, streamline distribution and enhance service for their selling partners. Still, there is a delicate balance between dedicating additional internal resources and maintaining the personal client relations that only an external wholesaler can provide.

Independent directors who are required to head mutual fund boards by 2006 must have enough authority to perform their duties by pushing back against management, according to a newly released report commissioned by an industry trade group affiliated with the Investment Company Institute.

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin has subpoenaed Morgan Stanley and other brokerage firms to find out whether they disclosed to investors payments they received from insurance firms to sell their variable annuities.

Some institutional pension plan sponsors, including Coca-Cola, have reportedly walked away from Fidelity Investments after the mutual fund giant implemented stringent short-term trading penalties to deter market timers. Vanguard also blocked access to Fidelity funds offered in some of its retirement plans because of the redemption fees.

PFPC Worldwide Promotes COO Wynne to President

A lackluster December in mutual fund sales closed the curtain on a year that wasn't overly dramatic for the industry, according to fund tracker Lipper of New York. While the S&P 500 rallied by 3.4% in the final month to help deliver a solid, 11.5% gain for the average domestic equity fund in 2004, fund flows sputtered in December as investors turned their attention to the holidays.

By making it easier for investors to roll over assets from qualified employee benefit plans to IRAs, two service providers are giving financial service providers a better shot at capturing those often elusive assets.