Money Management Executive Latest News

Schroders announced that it is collaborating with Standard & Poor's and is set to launch a new fund of funds service globally for financial institutions under a multi-year initiative.

Fidelity Investments, of Boston, announced that it is cutting 1,695 employees, or more than 5% of its workforce, in what was a widely expected, cost-cutting measure. Fidelity, the nation’s largest mutual fund company, said the cuts will reduce the company’s roster to roughly 29,300.

Standard & Poor's and netDecide, a web-based wealth management systems company, announced they have launched an integrated investment solution to the financial marketplace.

Lipper and Barra have partnered to create new software that helps mutual funds assess the risk involved with investing in certain securities, the companies said this week.

Traditional defined benefit pensions are loosing ground steadily to defined-contribution models, according to recent findings from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).

Although equity mutual fund panic selling abated in August, thanks to a sideways market, and investors continued to flock to bond funds, sharp withdrawals from money market funds netted the industry a $23.3 billion overall loss of assets last month, Lipper revealed last week.

PALM DESERT, Calif. - Outdated and risky in this age of accounting scandals plaguing Wall Street. That is how a fund consultant and author described the fund industry's model for reviewing corporate reporting. To stave off future legislation, a new model is needed, the speaker told the 700 fund accountants gathered here last week at the Investment Company Institute's Tax & Accounting Conference.

The backlash against corporate secrecy spilled over into the usually clean mutual fund industry as the Securities and Exchange Commission took a first step last week in requiring mutual funds to disclose their proxy voting policies and votes.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's proposal to require publicly traded companies to reveal their so-called critical accounting policies is a step in the right direction, according to leading fund companies.

The National Association for Variable Annuities hopes to soon unveil the details of a new consumer-oriented advertising campaign to showcase carriers' new approach to comprehensive financial planning for investors. Mark Mackey, president of the Reston, Va.-based trade group, said the organization is still working out details for the upcoming National Retirement Planning Week.