Money Management Executive Latest News

After a shaky couple of months, mutual fund assets are ever-so-slightly climbing.

Fidelity Institutional Investments Brokerage Group -- the Fidelity arm that services registered investment advisers and broker/dealers -- yesterday introduced practice management applications for advisers through a new platform called PracticeAdvantage, which provides planners with more ways to build their businesses by offering marketing tools and other client services.

By different routes, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Royal Bank of Canada have found their way to near the peak of a top-heavy Canadian mutual fund industry.

Starting tomorrow, in advertisements and sales literature, fund companies must comply with the after-tax performance reporting rules adopted by the SEC in January. The original compliance date, Oct. 1, was pushed back to Dec. 1 at the request of fund companies.

In a letter sent via the industry’s chief lobby group, the leadership of more than 60 mutual fund companies today asked the House Ways and Means committee to consider allowing mutual fund investors to defer taxes on their capital gains provided those investors reinvest the appreciated assets.

Net flows into mutual funds were positive in October, according to preliminary figures from Financial Research Corp. The overall positive flow of $13.3 billion was across all categories, in sharp contrast to outflows of $20.5 billion from all categories of funds in September.

Mellon Financial Corp. will buy Unifi Network, a human resources consulting and outsourcing unit of PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The $275 million deal is expected to close early in the first quarter of next year. Other terms were not disclosed, the company said in a statement.

Kansas Treasurer Tim Shallenburger said today that he has increased the contribution limit for the state’s 529 college savings plan by more than $100,000.

John Hancock Financial Services has introduced a 412(i) defined benefit plan for small business owners that are without retirement plans, the firm announced today. The new service takes advantage of recent changes in tax legislation, which will take effect Jan. 1 2002.

Jerry Peterson, senior partner and vice president of Denver Investment Advisors LLC, has left to form Agger Capital Management, an independent investment management firm based in Denver.