Money Management Executive Latest News

Janus Capital has reached agreements in principle with regulators that will cost the firm more than $226 million in restitution, fines and reduced fees for illegal market-timing activity at the firm, the fund shop said last week.

The SEC is reportedly considering taking disciplinary action against firms that fail to follow fair-value guidelines for holdings with outdated prices. Even with the fair-value pricing investigation in its infancy and the number of firms being probed not being released, officials said that fair valuation is a key issue for the SEC since market timers often take advantage of the mispricing that occurs when fair-valuation is not used. In fact, the SEC may wage a full-fledged attack against fair-value transgressions.

Prompted by 80 disciplinary actions over unsuitable annuity sales in the past two years, the NASD last week issued a broad set of rules on how registered reps should sell deferred variable annuities. The rep will have to determine that the investor fully understands the annuity and its underlying sub-accounts. The rep will also have to document the investor's risk and liquidity requirements and provide them with a risk disclosure document. Registered firms will now also have to establish and maintain written supervisory procedures and properly train their sales reps.

The percentage of money put into Boston fund firms plummeted from 42% of the total market in 1994 to only 8% in 2003, thanks to the scandal and its effects on Putnam and MFS, but also to the growth of huge fund firms elsewhere, according to Financial Research Corp. However, Boston still possesses more than 20% of overall mutual fund assets, primarily thanks to the presence of Fidelity.

A division of Fiserv is being investigated for possible improper mutual fund trading practices, the company's chief executive announced. Fiserv, which provides transaction processing and other back-office services for financial services firms, has fired or reassigned roughly a dozen employees following an inquiry from the SEC and its own internal review, CEO Leslie Muma told analysts on a conference call.

New York Life Names Four New Vice Presidents

With the cost of a four-year stint at a top liberal arts college expected to reach $300,000 by 2016, getting the word out on 529 college savings plans has never been more important.

Max Rottersman has been pointing out problems in the mutual fund industry, shedding light on inconsistencies in data, and trying to drum up business for FundExpenses.com, a mutual fund data analysis firm based in New York, for which he serves as president.

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. has created a new unit called the savings products division to serve the aging Baby Boomer population. Products from the unit will be designed to generate reliable income during retirement while managing risk.

StillPoint Advisors Inc., a newly formed financial services company in Atlanta, s has acquired a wealth management team headed by Michael A. Bober and Edward D. Ventrice, both formerly of Smith Barney.