Money Management Executive Latest News

Berger Financial Group, the investment manager for Berger Funds, said today that it has launched a new product called the Berger Small Cap Value Fund II. The product invests primarily in what are perceived to be undervalued stocks of small firms.

Columbia Management Group, the asset management unit of FleetBoston Financial, has hired Robert McConnaughey as its new managing director and head of equity research, the company said today.

AMVESCAP PLC, the financial services company headquartered in London, has fired Arthur Andersen as the independent auditor for the $392 billion corporation, effective April 27. AMVESCAP is the parent company to both AIM Management of Houston and INVESCO Funds of Denver.

Timing is everything.

With respect to shareholder reports, fund firms are looking to the SEC both to make some critical changes and to leave well enough alone. While fund companies would welcome the elimination of the requirement to mail out entire schedules of portfolio holdings, they are strongly opposed to an increase in the frequency of such disclosure.

CNBC is apparently talking with Louis Rukeyser, who hosts a well-known financial talk show on PBS, about the prospect of starting a new program on the cable news channel.

Citco-Quaker Fund Services, the fledgling U.S. mutual fund administrator in Valley Forge, Pa., is adding asset management to its repertoire of mutual fund services. Right now the firm provides back-office services such as fund custody, accounting and transfer agency.

In March, JP Morgan Chase launched the Stockback MasterCard from Chase, a co-branded credit card with a cash rewards program that allows consumers to automatically invest in Stockback's mutual fund. But three days after the announcement of the new card, Stockback filed a preliminary proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking to liquidate the fund.

A little Sunday school philosophy and a good measure of diligence have added up to kudos for Ken Rosenson, regional sales manager of the Pacific Metro region for OppenheimerFunds of New York. Frank Gleberman, principal at Los Angeles-based Century Benefits Group, singled out Rosenson from his peers, praising the wholesaler's service-oriented approach.

Despite a series of layoffs and the discontinuation of two product lines, American Skandia insists the company will get bigger.