Money Management Executive Latest News

Socially-responsible funds are twice as likely as all mutual funds to earn Morningstar's top five-star rating, according to the Social Investment Forum of Washington, D.C. Twenty percent of socially-responsible mutual funds earned a five-star rating through June 30, compared to just 10 percent of the total mutual fund universe, according to the Forum.

Nvest LP of Boston reported its second quarter net income declined 12.6 percent to $2.9 million from $3.3 million a year earlier. The company said its net income declined because a drop in equity assets, which command higher fees, offset gains in fixed income assets.

Investors' expectations about how the market will perform in the next 12 months are very high, according to a recent index developed by PaineWebber Incorporated of New York and the Gallup Organization of Princeton, N.J. The expectations are especially high among inexperienced investors, the survey found.

John Hancock Funds of Boston is trying to attract advisors to its new web site with free coffee. Hancock is sending a bag of Starbucks coffee to investment professionals who register for the site, which will provide advisors who sell Hancock funds with shareholder account access, news and product information. The site went live July 27. Hancock is spreading word of the site through a direct mailing.

E*Trade of Palo Alto, Calif. plans to expand its family of index funds with an Internet index fund. The new fund, the E*Trade E-Commerce Index Fund, was filed with the SEC on July 26. The fund will invest in the stocks in the Goldman Sachs E-Commerce Composite Index, which tracks companies that derive most of their revenue online or sell e-commerce infrastructure.

PIMCO Advisors Holdings LP of Newport Beach, Calif. reported strong earnings for the second quarter and reached a record $254.6 billion in assets under management, according to the company.

Allianz Group of Munich, Germany is developing its breadth of financial products in the U.S. and is planning a family of mutual funds to be sold here.

The Charles Schwab Corporation of San Francisco has promoted five executives to vice chairman and promoted a sixth to chief financial officer. Those with the added title of vice chairman include John Philip Coghlan, enterprise president of services for investment managers and retirement services; Linnet Deily, president, Schwab retail group; Lon Gorman, enterprise president for capital markets and trading; Dawn Lepore, chief information officer; and Steven Scheid, executive vice president of mutual funds, consumer products, finance, brokerage operations, and corporate services. Christopher Dodds has also been promoted from executive vice president of finance to chief financial officer.

Mutual fund attorneys are reviewing the risk disclosures in key SEC filings for the funds they advise because of what appears to be a unique case making its way through federal court in Nashville, Tenn.

It is unfortunate that the July 15 hearing in the case of Philip Goldstein v. Scudder New Europe Fund (MFMN, 7/26/99 ) remained mired in legal interpretations instead of delving into the real issue at hand. The presiding judge and attorneys focused on interpretations of SEC no-action letters. They never got into a debate on the pros and cons of imposing redemption fees on closed-end funds when they open. Industry observers argue both ways, and it is a debate worth having.