Money Management Executive Latest News

Hedge funds gained an average of 1.86% in April, according to HedgeFund.net. But by comparison, the S&P 500 gained 8.24% in April and 4.83% since the beginning of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also trounced hedge funds last month, returning 6.25% in the month and 2.39% since the beginning of the year.

Brinker Capital has launched a series of principal-protected notes that are fixed income vehicles with market participation through an equity index. The first issue of notes will probably have a participation rate between 75% and 85%. As a fixed income vehicle, the fees associated with the product range between 75 and 90 basis points, as opposed to the 115 to 145 basis point range for equity products. The first offering, which has not yet opened, will close sometime in June, and subsequent notes will be offered periodically, probably every 30 to 60 days.

PFPC Trust Co., a unit of PNC Financial Services Group Inc., says it plans to make custody and securities lending the focus of its overall business strategy. The company has promoted Sam Sparhawk IV to head its custody and securities lending businesses.

Financial services advertising in the first quarter was $205 million, a 23% decrease from the first quarter of 2002, according to Competitrack, a New York advertising tracking company for the financial services industry. And from the fourth quarter of 2002, spending declined 7%.

It isn't happy news for U.S.-based investment managers who are watching their own bottom lines shrinking. Their median compensation is expected to fall to $148,000 in 2003, which represents a decline of 22% over 2001's frothier levels of $190,000 and a 10% decline from 1999's median income level of $165,000.

BERMUDA - As if raising assets in foreign markets isn't already hard enough, there are increasing regulations to contend with, as well.

WASHINGTON - Maintaining more realistic expectations about mutual fund returns will be a critical step toward rejuvenating investor confidence.

WASHINGTON - Hedge fund representatives at the recent Securities and Exchange Commission roundtable on hedge funds adamantly denied the need for increased oversight of their industry. Others at the meeting lobbied for regulators to ease current restrictions on mutual funds so that they could act more like hedge funds.

Barclays Global Investors is blazing the trail for the exchange-traded fund (ETF) business as federal regulators have lifted key investment restrictions on its iShares product.

Equity mutual fund inflows in April hit their highest level in a year as investors cheered a swift military campaign in Iraq and a broad-based rally in stocks.