Money Management Executive Latest News

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation has hired Randy Grespin as managing director for distribution services. Grespin will be responsible for insurance services and mutual funds, filling the shoes of Walter Siebecker, who has left the firm to pursue other interests.

In November, The SEC issued a concept release on actively managed ETFs and asked for comments from the industry on the would-be products no later than January 14. In its letter dated January 14, the Investment Company Institute addresses several concerns, however it is no surprise that the industry organization’s main concern is over portfolio holdings disclosure.

Investors are showing signs of renewed optimism and advisers should find it easier to market alternative investment products to them, according to a recent survey of investors by Harris Interactive, a research firm based in Rochester, N.Y.

First Union’s First Investment Advisors Group has been incorporated into Evergreen Investments. Evergreen is the investment management unit of Wachovia Corp., the product of Wachovia’s merger with First Union.

Vanguard Group has modified its policy on index-fund share exchanges to permit telephone and online exchanges. Limits remain and not all Vanguard funds are included but shareholders will have more flexibility than in the past.

Exchange-traded funds based on fixed-income indices appear to be near SEC approval. Paul Roye, director of the Security and Exchange Commission’s division of investment management, addressed the issue earlier this week at a conference on ETFs sponsored by the American Stock Exchange in New York City.

Fourteen states have failed to update income tax laws to conform with changes in federal law that allow increased participant contributions to 401(k) plans, creating new headaches for defined contribution plan administrators.

As money fund profits fall with interest rates, banks with smaller money fund complexes are increasingly considering outsourcing their management to larger fund companies.

Individual investors who use certain personal finance software will now be able to open IRAs from their home computers. Banking and financial services company Wells Fargo said today that it has partnered with a manufacturer of tax and bookkeeping software to create the service.