Money Management Executive Latest News

Bexil Corp. of New York, the fixed-income closed-end fund, is asking shareholders to allow the fund to make a change in its investment style. The fund wants to change its investment objective so that it can invest as much as 50 percent of its assets in the equities of growth companies, according to a proxy statement the fund filed with the SEC Nov. 15. The fund currently must invest at least 65 percent of its assets in U.S. government securities.

David Levenson has been named director of 401(k) retirement plan sales for The Hartford Mutual Funds of Hartford, Conn. This is an additional responsibility to Levenson's role as head of mutual fund sales for The Hartford.

An unusual fight pitting two groups of fund directors against each other is providing the SEC with its first public test of the agency's campaign to strengthen the role of independent fund directors.

On November 4, not only did AIM Management of Houston, Texas officially close its doors to new investors of the nearly $500 million AIM Small-Cap Opportunities Fund, but it also threw a sale for existing shareholders. As a direct result of the fund's closing, AIM cut the fund's 12b-1 distribution fee to 0.25 percent from 0.35 percent on its A class of shares. AIM appears to be among the few, if not the sole, fund group to cut its 12b-1 fee upon closing.

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Securities and Exchange Commission by year-end will issue additional guidelines on electronic delivery that will elaborate on guidelines it issued three years ago, according to an SEC official.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Mutual fund call centers are critical to retaining customers but are not managed as efficiently as they could be, said consultants who spoke here last week at the Investment Company Institute's operations conference. Operations centers also need additional technological and training resources but will only obtain such resources if they can demonstrate their importance by supplying figures on their impact on revenue, the consultants said.

BOSTON - Mutual fund directors will be among the executives on call New Year's weekend as the fund industry readies itself for possible computer troubles associated with the date change to the year 2000.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Corporations worldwide are expected to be hampered by computer problems at the turn of the century, but the mutual fund industry is expected to suffer fewer disruptions than other industries.

ORLANDO, Fla. - To attract Gen Xers, businesses should think of the recruitment process as marketing and they should market their organization as a brand, said Will Ruch, managing partner for Hughes, Ruch & Murphy of Milwaukee, Wis. A company that maintains a distinct personality will be viewed favorably, Ruch said. To appeal to Gen Xers, a company must promise both meaningful employment and money, he said.

Legislation aimed at establishing uniform federal law for electronic commerce and electronic signatures and addressing some concerns of the mutual fund industry, has advanced in Congress.