Money Management Executive Latest News

SSB Citi Asset Management Group of New York has introduced its first-ever family of no-load index funds. The family is comprised of 11 index funds. Two other index funds, pegged to the FORTUNE 500 and FORTUNE e-50 stock indexes - the Citi FORTUNE 500 Index Fund and the Citi FORTUNE e-50 Index Fund - are expected to be offered to investors beginning Nov. 27.

William Grayson and Soraya Betterton have joined Emerging Growth Management of San Francisco. Grayson, who was previously a vice president at J.P. Morgan of New York, will be managing director and chief operating officer. Betterton, formerly managing partner at Green Street Investments of New York, will be a portfolio manager.

One of the advantages of exchange-traded funds is their low expense ratios. However, some industry analysts have suggested that companies could increase these fees given the added benefits that exchange-traded funds offer. The fund companies that offer exchange-traded funds disagree, however, and maintain that they have no plans to raise the funds' fees any time soon.

Online services that match 401(k) plan sponsors with plan providers are making it easier for plan providers to market directly to small and medium-sized plan sponsors, according to industry executives and analysts.

The fund industry has a bright future in Asia, according to Terry K. Glenn, chairman of the Americas and president of Merrill Lynch Funds. However, this future has to be built on sound regulation, responsibility and cooperation, he said.

Earlier this month, NASD Regulation proposed a rule change which would give mutual fund companies more flexibility with regard to related performance' information in fund advertisements, according to Cindy Fornelli, senior advisor to the director of the division of investment management of the Securities and Exchange Commission. While the SEC supports the proposed changes, it would still like to see changes in the rules regarding manager performance, Fornelli said. NASD Regulation is a subsidiary of the National Association of Securities Dealers of Washington, D.C.

No-load funds should market IRA rollover accounts to small and medium-sized 401(k) participants because that represents their best opportunity to capture a significant share of the fast-growing rollover market. By 2010, a half trillion dollars is expected to be flowing out of 401(k) plans into IRA rollovers annually, according to Cerulli Associates.

Five major mutual fund groups have signed up to offer some of their funds to 401(k) plan participants through GoldK, the one-year-old Internet 401(k) plan service company of Waltham, Mass.

The Business Checking Modernization Act, a bill in Congress that would repeal a law prohibiting banks from paying interest on business checking accounts, could create a new major competitor for money market funds.

The SEC has adopted new auditor independence rules with several notable changes from the original rule proposal.