Money Management Executive Latest News

Franklin Templeton Investments today announced that it has formed a new retirement division, unifying two separate groups previously called strategic alliances and defined contribution services. Rick Frisbie will be president of the new division.

Mutual fund companies wary of the encroaching threat of separate accounts, take heart. Even that industry is grappling with dilemmas over how to continue growing. The key question the separate account industry asks itself is, should it continue targeting elite investors or mass market to a broader customer base?

Spooked by the severe decline in equity markets before the Dow's stunning 489-point rally last week, mutual fund shareholders have been busy dialing into their fund companies. Call volumes at most fund groups spiked significantly during the week of July 15 and again last week as nervous investors redeemed shares, exchanged into bond and money market funds and sought reassurance, fund executives said.

Responding to a protracted bear market, fund complexes registered 34% fewer new mutual funds with the Securities and Exchange Commission this year than during the year-ago period, according to data provided by New York researcher Strategic Insight.

It's not clear exactly which straw was the last one, but the camel is not in good shape.

The mutual fund industry's chief lobby group sent a stern message to the Senate last week, urging it to allow fund companies to provide 401(k) investors with advice as part of the pension reform legislation that lawmakers are now considering.

State Street Global Advisors did not acquire J&W Seligman & Co. in June ["State Street to Acquire Hedge Manager," MFMN 7/22/02]. Rather, State Street expanded the back-office services it uses from Seligman.

Fund companies that are drowning in a sea of net redemptions have been thrown a new life preserver.

The nation's 10 largest mutual funds, all of which invest in large-cap stocks, have been investing in mid- and small-cap stocks to cushion losses due to poor market conditions, Standard & Poor's has found.

Charles Schwab Corporate Services has introduced a new monthly report for retirement plan sponsors to monitor the investments in their plans.