Money Management Executive Latest News

Trouble at Freddie Mac is likely to have serious implications for the mutual fund industry, CNBC.com reports. Institutions, primarily mutual funds, own 88% of the government-sponsored mortgage-finance giant.

Part of buy-side giant Amvescap’s strategy in merging the mutual fund operations of its AIM and Invesco subsidiaries is to boost its foray into the separately managed account (SMA) business for high-net worth individuals, said Mark McMeans, president and COO of AIM Private Asset Management.

Scudder Investments has introduced two new variable annuities underwritten by Travelers Life and Annuity Co. and The Travelers Insurance Co. The Scudder Advocate Rewards annuity offers a 4.5% bonus on purchases, while the Scudder Advocate Advisor is a C-share annuity with no surrender charges.

National Association of Securities Dealers is investigating annuity exchanges at Waddell & Reed.

H Team Capital, LLC, a newly organized investment management firm based in Delaware, has filed for registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a corporate governance mutual fund.

Wells Fargo Funds Management has completed its acquisition of 11 funds with $1.4 billion in assets under management from Montgomery Asset Management. Montgomery, a subsidiary of Commerzbank, and Wells Fargo announced the transition last November. Gartmore Global Investments, meanwhile, is acquiring two of Montgomery’s international funds and one long/short equity fund.

Chicago-based Morningstar has long been well positioned to service 401(k) and other defined contribution plan providers with investment advice. Now, it is reaching into the large plan sponsor arena with its purchase of privately held mPower, a San Francisco company that provides online advice to participants of defined contribution plans.

A number of separate-account investment platforms have recently broadened their offerings, which, at the end of the first quarter of 2003, collectively sported $729 billion in assets under management, according to Cerulli Associates of Boston.

Separately managed accounts have enjoyed tremendous growth in recent years as high-net-worth individuals have been lured by their direct ownership and tax management features. Nowhere in the asset management industry has that growth been more evident than at Jersey City, N.J.-headquartered Lord Abbett, a well-established partnership with $49 billion in assets.

The Cleveland Foundation, the nation's second-largest charitable foundation with $1.5 billion under management, didn't waste any time joining the three-month-old Merrill Lynch Community Charitable Fund.