Money Management Executive Latest News

Payden & Rygel of Los Angeles, an investment firm with nearly $35 billion in assets under management, has announced that it is renaming its mutual fund unit. Formerly called Payden & Rygel Mutual Funds, the new name, Paydenfunds, will take effect immediately, the company said.

Bank of Montreal's BMO Mutual Funds has announced the addition of seven new RSP World Funds to its registered retirement savings plans funds. The new funds are designed to appeal to investors who want to increase global investments in their retirement plans, according to Bank of Montreal.

Michael Murray has been promoted to senior vice president and national markets director for mutual funds at American Skandia of Shelton, Conn. Murray was previously national sales director for the financial institutions channel at American Skandia.

Mutual fund investors who use a financial advisor have lower redemption rates and longer holding periods than individual investors who do not, according to a recent study by Phoenix Investment Partners of Hartford, Conn.

WASHINGTON D.C. - An SEC examination has targeted between 30 to 40 mutual funds that are suspected of artificially inflating their quarter-end performance by engaging in a trading scheme known as portfolio pumping, said Lori Richards, director of the SEC's office of compliance, inspections and examinations.

Four major financial services companies announced last week that they will jointly operate a new Internet portal that will provide investment advisors with a wide array of mutual fund information.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The SEC is planning to issue additional guidance to the fund industry sometime before April on securities valuations, said Douglas Scheidt, chief counsel for the SEC's division of investment management.

A significant number of investors in retirement are planning to increase their contributions to their 401(k) plans and become more aggressive in their allocations in 2001, according to a recent survey by Fidelity Investments of Boston.

It costs less to process large, institutional-sized trades on the New York Stock Exchange than on the Nasdaq, according to a study released by the New York Stock Exchange last week. The Plexus Group of Teaneck, N.J. conducted the study.

Barclays Global Investors of San Francisco has launched a multi-million dollar advertising campaign promoting its iShare exchange-traded funds. The campaign started Jan. 8 and will run until April, the company said.