Money Management Executive Latest News

A unit of MetLife may be charged by the SEC for trading improprieties in annuities, CBSMarketWatch reports.

The theme of the ICI General Membership Meeting this year is "A Matter of Trust," a trust that has been broken in light of recent events, namely the flood of improper trading uncovered by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and the Securities and Exchange Commission, CBSMarketWatch reports. The shadow of the scandal and the pending sweeping reforms will be the hot-button issues at this year’s meeting.

Principal Financial’s has changed the name and strategy of one of its top mutual funds. The Principal Utilities Fund is now the Principal Equity Income Fund, and instead of investing all in utilities, it will invest in a more diverse portfolio that includes value stocks in many industries, real estate investment trusts (REITs), and convertible and preferred securities.

Assets in 529 college savings plans reached $40 billion at the end of the first quarter, according to data from Financial Research Corp., released by the College Savings Foundation. This marked a 13.9% increase from $35.1 billion in assets at the end of 2003 and an 87.5% increase from $21.3 billion in assets in the first quarter of 2003.

Shirley Fulton, former North Carolina Superior Court judge, is now a member of Evergreen Investments’ board of trustees, the company announced.

Research firm Financial Research Corp. of Boston has named John Benvenuto head of mutual fund products service. Previously the company's director of research, Benvenuto will lead the company's biggest division, responsible for fund products and their distribution.

For the fiscal year ended March 31, Legg Mason generated $297.8 million in net earnings, a 56% increase over last year. Total revenue for the year was $1.941 billion, a 29% uptick from last year, marking the second straight year that Legg Mason set company records.

Research firm Morningstar has filed an initial public offering statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell shares of common stock in the company.

The NASD recently announced a $10 million project to be run by its not-for-profit Investor Education Foundation to better educate investors on financial markets. The foundation will work with other not-for-profit groups and researchers to conduct educational projects.

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