Money Management Executive Latest News

If you are looking for corporate integrity, check out the mutual funds. In our lifetime, we have seen major scandals or collapses of the banks, savings and loans institutions, the life insurance industry, big businesses - even religious organizations.

Bear, Stearns moved to strengthen its advisory practice to financial institutions by hiring Maurice Marchensini as senior managing director for investment banking. Marchesini, who most recently served as co-head of Merrill Lynch's U.S. Depository Institutions Group, will focus predominately on expanding the firm's banking practice. Prior to Merrill, he worked at Salomon Brothers, where he was responsible for client relations in Latin America and the U.S.

U.K. fund manager New Star has hired Mark Sanders of Aberdeen Asset Management to join its fixed income team. Sanders joins former Aberdeen associate Phil Roantree, whose appointment to New Star's fixed income group was announced after the firm bought six of Aberdeen's retail funds in mid-January.

Carlos Asilis, chief stock strategist at J.P. Morgan Chase, has resigned from the firm after less than a year to return to Vega Asset Management in Madrid, a hedge fund he worked for throughout the 90's.

The boards for several First American funds have elected Carol L. Colman and Daniel P. Cronin as directors, to hold office until the annual meeting of stockholders for each fund, when a duly elected and qualified successor will be chosen. The list of funds includes the Global Partners Income Fund, the Municipal Partners Fund II, The Emerging Markets Income Fund, and The Emerging Markets Income Fund II.

The First American Small Cap Growth Opportunities Fund, formerly The First American Micro Cap Fund, introduced its new name at the end of January, after reopening to new investors in December.

Fund firms have earned more in fees than investors have gained from the funds themselves in recent years, and investors may choose to invest, instead, in low-fee, exchange-traded funds as an alternative, according to a recent report by FundExpenses.com.

After 1997, investors who sent $640 billion into equity funds made 4.5% on their money, or $29 billion, at best. Meanwhile, the funds earned $90 billion in that period from all assets managed. While the equity markets are still slumping, equity funds have taken in $47 billion in advisory fees from September 2000 through November 2002.

Fidelity Investments last Tuesday announced the enhancement of its trade-processing capabilities for registered investment advisers and fee-based broker/dealers.

Assets held in separately managed accounts finished 2002 virtually where they were a year earlier, making them a significantly more stable investment than large, small and foreign stocks, according to The Money Management Institute. Assets totaled $398.7 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2002, a slight drop from the $399.7 billion at the close of 2001, but 4.4% increase over the prior quarter.