Money Management Executive Latest News

Web sites of global firms geared towards institutional investors are still lacking in several areas despite strides in the right direction, according to a yet-to-be published report by electronic business consulting firm kasina of New York.

A new hedge fund has recently been formed called NewMarket Capital Partners, Reuters reports. However, what makes this fund unique is that it will be run by three women in a largely male-dominated industry.

Pyxis Consulting, a provider of technology solutions for the investment management industry, has announced the release of new personal digital assistant software for mutual fund and annuity wholesalers.

With $67 billion of assets under management, Frank Russell Co. is the leader of the $227 billion manager-of-manager industry, according to a report from Cerulli Associates. The firm’s market share grew from 23% in 2001 to 26% last year, according to the study, "The Global Multi-Manager and Mutual Fund Subadvisory Markets 2003."

Investors with a willingness to take more of a risk in search of higher returns injected extremely high levels of cash into the U.S. junk bond market in the week ending June 4, Reuters reports. The inflow was at near-record levels.

Integrity Mutual Funds has announced that it will consolidate its two wholly owned broker/dealer firms.

John Hancock has lowered the minimum guaranteed interest rate on its fixed annuities from 3% to 2% in states where permissible. In response to consumers’ reluctance to lock in a rate over a long period of time, the firm is also offering investors the choice of a one-year guaranteed rate as opposed to a five-year rate.

As corporate reporting standards have been under intense scrutiny, a new method, the Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), may be a remedy for the ills that have been plaguing Wall Street and corporate America as a whole.

Money manager Eaton Vance has acquired a majority stake in investment manager Parametric Portfolio Associates for $28 million in cash. This ends the company’s ongoing search for new acquisitions.

The National Association of Securities Dealers is following up on a Prudential internal probe that found some managers and brokers had forged documents in order to switch clients from one annuity to another, thus boosting sales results.