Money Management Executive Latest News

An NASDR arbitration panel has ruled against Franklin Templeton of San Mateo, Calif. in an arbitration case filed in 1999 against the fund adviser by Daniel Calabria, a former fund executive.

Massachusetts State Rep. Byron Rushing, who led a widely-publicized and controversial effort to limit the state of Massachusetts' dealings with the military government of Burma, has been selected as the new chair of the Calvert Social Investment Fund Advisory Council.

Patricia Cook has been named chief investment officer of the public fixed-income business at Prudential Investment Management of Newark, N.J. Before joining Prudential, Cook was a managing director of alternative investments for Fischer Francis Trees and Watts of New York.

The John Nuveen Company announced it will acquire institutional money manager Symphony Asset Management for $210 million in cash plus potential future growth incentives.

The American Funds group announced last week that it is offering its two-month old "F" class of shares to fee-based financial advisers who purchase the funds for clients through the institutional fund supermarket of TD Waterhouse Securities.

ING Group will merge two of its entities, Aeltus Investment Management and ING Furman Selz Asset Management, into a new institutional investment management firm to be called ING Aeltus Group.

Sagging U.S. and international equity markets are to blame for a 2% drop in retirement assets held in mutual funds last year, according to a report issued by the Investment Company Institute.

While the number of mergers and acquisitions between investment advisors this year has kept up with the fast pace of 2000, the dollar amounts of those deals is down dramatically.

Fund companies competing for the high-net-worth investor need to be wary of the challenges and potential pitfalls of offering alternative products if they hope to gain a foothold in that market, according to industry executives.

Robert Graham is ceo and co-founder of AIM Management Group of Houston and vice chairman of AMVESCAP PLC of London, the parent company to both AIM and INVESCO Funds of Denver.