Money Management Executive Latest News

Global Asset Management of Hamilton, Bermuda is planning to file with the SEC to introduce three new closed-end funds in October that will invest in hedge funds, said David Anderson, managing director of Global Asset Management.

In spite of the rush to merge or acquire another firm in the money management industry, two-thirds of acquired fund companies failed to exceed their pre-transaction asset growth rates following a sale, according to Cerulli Associates of Boston.

Mutual fund investors have confidence in their technology fund investments despite a short-term drop in the Nasdaq Composite Index earlier this year, according to a survey from Charles Schwab & Co. of San Francisco.

The Investment Company Institute of Washington D.C., filed a motion July 28 to dismiss a complaint against it alleging the industry association has violated federal securities laws by aligning too closely with fund advisers, according to the motion.

Sixty-eight percent of the 48 million U.S. households owning mutual funds use the Internet, up from 62 percent in 1998, a July Investment Company Institute study revealed. The median shareholder who used the Internet has $40,000 invested in four funds, is 42 years old, has a household income of $63,000 and household financial assets of $100,900, according to the study. Use of the Internet is highest in fund households headed by individuals under age 35 and lowest in households headed by individuals age 65 or older. The study also found that Internet use increases with household income. Ninety-one percent of households with income of $100,000 or more used the Internet, compared to only one-half of those with income under $25,000, the study found.

Pioneer Investment Management of Boston announced it is adding 30 representatives to its sales force in an effort to increase annual sales to $10 billion by 2003, said Tara Pescatore, a company spokesperson. Currently, the firm has about $3 billion in annual sales, she said. It has 50 sales reps.

Jim Atkinson and George Flood have joined the institutional brokerage group of Fidelity Investments of Boston as vice presidents of sales and relationship management for the registered investment advisor channel. Atkinson was previously an account manager in the institutional division of Charles Schwab & Co. of San Francisco. Flood has been with Fidelity for the past seven years, most recently as a regional manager of the registered investment advisor channel.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has speedily adopted a rule to permit fund companies to continue to convey sales and marketing materials electronically - particularly on websites - to prospective investors without first supplying them with a prospectus or asking for their permission to provide the prospectus in electronic form.

Equity mutual fund investor confidence improved in June, with $22.37 billion of net new cash going into equity funds, up 31 percent from May net flows of $17.04 billion, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Shareholders of the Vanguard International Value Fund can expect to lose a greater percentage of their returns to tax distributions and costs associated with portfolio reallocation as a result of the firm's decision late last month to replace the fund's adviser, according to industry consultants and analysts.