Probes May Grow, Lipper Predicts

A mutual fund expert from Lipper predicts that more than 20 additional companies may come under investigation in the fund scandal, Reuters reports.

Speaking to an audience at the 2004 Lipper Fund awards, Robin Thurston, the global director of research at Lipper, said, "We believe there will be a couple of dozen more companies that have not yet been named," speaking of improper trades.

Citing information that the "churn rate" of many funds is high, a sign of quick in-and-out trades within funds known as market timing, Thurston warned that more allegations and charges may soon come.

The once-untarnished mutual fund industry has come under a swell of charges and investigations since September for both market timing and late trading, the illegal practice of post-4 p.m. transactions. Lipper’s newest research, with its showing of the high churn rates, goes against some industry experts’ opinions that the scandal is winding down.

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