Money Management Executive Latest News

The three-year bear market has hit senior citizens hard, both The New York Times and Reuters report. The market has hammered stock and bond portfolios, right along with annuities, 401(k)s and any interest-bearing account.

The parent company of Putnam Investments doesn’t say whether or not the CEO of the fifth-largest fund group in the United States, who got a $17 million bonus in 2001 and a $33 million bonus in 2000, will get one for 2002, Reuters reports.

The $3.9 billion Fidelity Investment Aggressive Growth fund continued cutting its technology stock holdings in January after halving the holdings in the last two months of 2002.

As fund companies continue launching conservative and fixed-income funds, the financial press continues to write headlines about the dangers of investing in bonds.

Warnings from Charles Schwab and Ameritrade (see related story, below), could portend further trouble at the online brokerage giants, which also serve as fund supermarkets, Reuters reports.

Online broker Ameritrade lowered its second-quarter and full-year outlook Friday, just one day after rival Charles Schwab issued a hiring freeze and slashed spending due to a marked decline in trading activity among its investors.

Nearly one in three sales to mutual funds with front-end sales charges don't get the discount they deserve. That's according to a report jointly issued last week by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Association of Securities Dealers and the New York Stock Exchange.

WASHINGTON - Congress will be going over mutual fund fee practices with a fine-tooth comb to ensure investors are getting a fair shake.

With the bear market squashing returns for mutual funds, those who give awards, such as Lipper, Standard & Poor's/Business Week and Morningstar, have focused their selection process on a number of things, with past performance not as big a barometer as it once was. In some instances, history took a back seat during the selection process, and more qualitative, rather than quantitative measures, led the way.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Communication, education, strategic partnerships and outsourcing are the name of the game for the "401(k) sales champions" who took to the podium to share their expertise with attendees at the American Society of Pension Actuaries (ASPA) here.