Money Management Executive Latest News

Franklin Resources, parent company of the Franklin and Templeton mutual funds, announced Thursday that corporate earnings more than doubled in the fourth quarter, citing a ramp-up in equity fund flows that generated higher fees.

NEW ORLEANS – Regulators at the Investment Company Institute’s Operations Conference here said they will be focusing more on electronic communications and management’s attitude towards internal controls as they go forward, in an attempt to be more proactive when examining firms.

Putnam Investments is firing four mutual fund money managers for timing trades in their own international and global funds, reaping themselves more than $700,000 in profits, Reuters reported early Friday morning. All four have been asked to leave, although the fate of another two, who also engaged in market timing, but not in their own funds, is still up in the air. Nancy Fisher, a spokeswoman for Putnam, indicated that further details about the six money managers would be made later on Friday.

Ten members of a New York trade union reportedly took in more than $2 million in profits from market timing trades made through Putnam Investments, according to The Wall Street Journal.

As part of regulators’ increasing scrutiny of mutual fund sales and trading practices, the Securities and Exchange Commission is now investigating whether 15 leading brokerage firms pushed certain mutual funds in return for trade orders, The Wall Street Journal reports. Morgan Stanley is one of the firms being investigated, the paper discovered from a filing with the SEC.

Curian Capital has just announced a partnership with the Independent Community Bankers of America to offer separately managed accounts through its member banks.

Last year, the National Retirement Planning Coalition kicked off its first National Retirement Planning Week campaign with former senator Bob Dole as honorary chairperson. On November 17, Ben Stein assumes the mantle for the coming year.

As the fund scandal continues to spread, many investors and industry leaders are pointing to the directors of the funds themselves as one of the main reasons for these problems, and are coming up with ways to make directors more effective, Dow Jones Newswires reports.

As it admitted Wednesday that an internal investigation had found improper trading within the company – both market timing and late trading – Federated Investors further disclosed that it has been subpoenaed by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer as part of his mutual fund probe, Reuters reports.

In a record-breaking month, Legg Mason announced a 25% increase in net revenues compared to last September.