Money Management Executive Latest News

The fund scandal has prompted a number of 401(k) plan sponsors to shop for new providers, marking a new opportunity for fund companies.

A group of independent directors has formed the Independent Directors Council to provide education and create a forum to discuss policy issues. The council, an offshoot of the Directors’ Committee of the Investment Company Institute, will be housed in the ICI but has its own staff.

SEC Chairman William Donaldson said "no thanks" to offers from Congress to assist with mutual fund reform, rebuffing efforts by Congress to reform the $7.5 trillion mutual fund industry, Dow Jones Newswires reports.

A newly published report by a senior economist at the Securities and Exchange Commission concludes that mutual fund 12b-1 fees have benefited financial services companies far more than individual shareholders, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Mutual fund companies are emerging from a slump in advertising spending and buying more print advertisements and commercials in finance magazines and cable television channels, Dow Jones Newswires reports.

Separately managed accounts (SMAs) saw assets under management rise 39.2% in the first quarter from the same period last year and 5.8% during the first three months of the year, according to a Money Management Institute report..

Still River has released the third in its series of retirement planning papers, "Retirement Income Planning, Part 3: Risk and Investment Strategy for Retirees." The paper concludes that, despite the recent hype promoting growth investing for retirees, a conservative investment strategy may still be best.

The National Association of Securities Dealers Wednesday announced it has formed a mutual fund task force to recommend ways to make fund costs and distribution agreements more transparent to investors.

J. & W. Seligman replaced $3.7 million back in its funds because of market timing, the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Reuters reports.

Federal regulators’ next step toward corporate cleansing is checking whether banks are pressuring affiliated mutual fund units to buy into those banks’ initial public offerings, The Wall Street Journal reports.