Money Management Executive Latest News

In a year filled with securities industry scandals and settlements, the Securities and Exchange Commission has uncovered a new source of potential conflicts of interest. It could be yet another reason to expand the already overwhelming number of disclosures required of investment advisers and broker/dealers.

Although the Ontario Securities Commission found only four out of 105 firms in its initial investigation possibly guilty of market timing, some experts believe the probe could widen. And if it does, massive outflows from the firms under investigation could mirror what happened in the United States.

As the Oct. 5 deadline fast approaches for fund firms to have a compliance chief in place, the majority of firms are prepared, according to preliminary results of a recent study by Diversified Management Resources in Boston.

Russel Kinnel, director of fund research at Morningstar, tipped his hand this week by naming the Dodge & Cox stock management team, ICAP Select Equity fund manager Robert Lyon and Fidelity Contrafund skipper Will Danoff as possible candidates for the research firm's fund manager of the year.

It sounds like a broken record, but in these months before the 2004 presidential election, investors are opting for words like "safety" and "caution" over "wild" and "woolly." Equity fund inflows were an estimated $8.2 billion in August, according to Lipper, as value funds once again beat growth funds. As a whole, stock and non-stock equity funds (mixed and miscellaneous equity included) took in $11.5 billion. The amount is considered modest, a word which could also describe most investors’ styles right now.

The Ontario Securities Commission sent notices to four mutual fund managers, warning them of potential enforcement proceedings for market timing violations. The notices give the companies the opportunity to refute the charges, which are expected to take several months to resolve.

Two former PIMCO executives are poised to battle the Securities and Exchange Commission in court, forcing the federal regulator to prove the duo broke the law, reports The Los Angeles Times.

Franklin Resources this week publicly admitted to charges that it extended trading privileges in proprietary mutual funds to a Nevada-based market timer who promised direct investment in at least one of its hedge funds, CBS MarketWatch reports.

Northern Trust Global Advisors has named Heidi J. Levin a vice president in its private equity group. Levin's appointment was announced last Wednesday. She will focus on sourcing, due diligence, closingand portfolio management for the Northern Trust Corp. unit's core fund of funds and separate account products.

A top U.S. law firm committed malpractice by advising executives at an investment management firm to accept illegal late mutual fund trades from three hedge funds, a lawsuit claims, TheStreet.com reports.