Money Management Executive Latest News

Declining returns and increasing volatility on the stock market are hammering down investment returns in defined contribution plans, exposing participants and sponsors to new risks and underscoring the need for greater participant education.

AdvisorCentral, the mutual fund Internet portal for financial advisers sponsored by Fidelity Institutional, Putnam Investments, Franklin Templeton Investments and PFPC, is having a tough time living up to original expectations.

ING Americas will be saving $250-300 million through cost-cutting measures, including an estimated 1,600-person staffing cut across all its lines of business, including mutual funds.

Bank of Montreal, which announced last week that it has purchased the North American operations of online broker CSFBdirect, is currently vying against six other companies for a license to sell mutual funds in China.

Money market fund assets rose $6.38 billion during the week ending Wednesday, Dec. 5, the Investment Company Institute reported today. That increased total money market fund assets to $2.357 trillion.

Deutsche Bank’s acquisition of Zurich Scudder will result in the loss of nearly 1,500 jobs, or about 20% of the combined group’s 8,000 employees, according to a report appearing today in The Wall Street Journal.

Boston-based CDC IXIS Asset Management North America is combining its managed accounts business with its mutual fund businesses to create CDC IXIS Asset Management Advisors Group, the firm said yesterday.

American Skandia has made broad-based cuts affecting all areas of its business, including an anticipated reduction to its wholesaling staff. Several weeks ago, the Shelton, Conn-based firm laid off 11 wholesalers, and last week it instituted a series of staff cuts throughout the organization amounting to approximately 12% of its employees.

London Pacific Advisors has added exchange-traded funds to its line up of wrap-fee services, London Pacific Group, the firm’s parent company announced today. LPA is the first to offer a wrap-fee ETF platform that fully integrates separate account managers with ETFs, according to Mark Chamberlain, director of iShares strategy at Barclays Global Investors Services.

Allfirst Bank has started its first donor-advised fund, which will let investors contribute cash or appreciated securities to any public charity in the United States.