Money Management Executive Latest News

The number of managed accounts in rep-as-adviser programs increased 29% from 2007 through year-end 2009, but because advisers are required to contact clients every time a change is made to these non-discretionary portfolios, managed accounts are inefficient, Cerulli says.

Along with turnkey asset management programs, which allow advisers to outsource functions such as manager research, portfolio construction and performance reporting in order to gain operational and cost efficiencies, unified managed accounts are gaining popularity.

McCarthy Heads Citi ETF Investor Services Team

T. Rowe Price was named the Best Overall Fund Group for large companies at the 2010 U.S. Lipper Fund Awards ceremony held March 24 in New York.

A new investment firm is promising to shake up the way Americans invest by providing individuals with direct access to institutionally priced mutual funds and other investments.

Fidelity Investments expects sales of its 401(k)s to continue to increase through third-party financial advisers to small and midsized companies-and the company plans to reduce fees to gain additional share. In August, Fidelity plans to switch its Advisor 401(k) platform to a system where the adviser receives a flat fee from Fidelity instead of several different fees in the form of 12b-1 fees.

Charles Schwab filed arguments in federal court in San Francisco to try to preclude the Securities and Exchange Commission from suing it over its YieldPlus fund. Once one of the biggest short-term bond funds in the world, with $13.5 billion at its peak in 2007, YieldPlus lost 35%, before dividends, in 2008 due to high exposure to mortgage-backed securities, which comprised nearly 50% of its portfolio. Today, a mere shell of its former self, it stands at $184 million.

Recovery to Exceed Expectations: Barclays

Thanks to their robust disclosure policies, mutual fund companies are generally well-protected against investor lawsuits, but that won't stop lawyers from trying anyway.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is concerned that some mutual funds and actively managed and leveraged ETFs, in particular, may be investing too heavily in swaps and derivatives. If the staff determines that the investments are inconsistent with the leverage, concentration and diversification provisions of the Investment Company Act, it will cease granting exemptions going forward. Funds that already received exemptions would not be impacted, the SEC said.