Money Management Executive Latest News

William Kearns is now president of national sales for the Monument Funds Group of Laurel, Md. Kearns has been in the business of marketing and selling mutual funds for 17 years with a number of leading firms, including Fidelity Investments and Eaton Vance Funds, both of Boston. In his new role, Kearns is responsible for building a wholesale team throughout the U.S., particularly to promote Monument's science, technology and Internet funds.

William Blair & Company LLC of Chicago simultaneously will offer its mutual funds both no load and with a sales charge, a rare occurrence in the mutual fund industry.

Only six percent of 401(k) plan participants who switch jobs roll their money over to the incumbent 401(k) provider, according to a study. Thirty-seven percent of participants place their savings in an IRA, according to the study by Hewitt Associates, the management consulting firm in Lincolnshire, Ill. Hewitt's analysis of 193,000 defined contribution distributions nationwide in 1998 also showed that 57 percent of the investors chose to cash out of their plans.

Charles F. Parisi, a California financial services executive, allegedly worked with his brother and a colleague to dupe fund board members, insurance companies and portfolio managers about Parisi's troubled past and conceal Parisi's role in a firm which managed a trust used in variable annuities, the SEC alleged last week.

Retirement planning and retirement plans are key factors in mutual fund sales and offer an opportunity for growth for the industry, a new Investment Company Institute report suggests.

Japan funds are hot again. Close your eyes and you might miss it.

NEW YORK - Although banks control between 40 percent and 90 percent of mutual fund sales in European countries and currently only offer proprietary products, investors' growing interest in unbiased advice will compel banks to broaden their offerings.

Actively-managed mutual funds have been out of favor in recent months because of two rapidly developing trends. Funds pegged to a market index, like Standard & Poor's 500, have gained in popularity, not only because they can outperform many actively-managed funds, but because they take less of a bite out of an investor's earnings through low management fees. In addition, the popularity of Internet stocks has drawn investors away from activelymanaged funds to invest in individual Internet stocks.

A United States District Court judge has fined a former Los Angeles mutual fund manager $1 million in restitution, interest and penalties for misrepresenting the value of two worthless funds as $138 million, combined, to two brokerage firms in order to obtain margin loans.

Like Frankenstein and his monster, RREEF America of Chicago is bringing a mutual fund back to life. The money manager is bringing out a twin of one of its old real estate funds even though it merged a similar fund with American Century Investments of Kansas City, Mo. two years ago.