SEC Will Review IPO Allocation Practices

WASHINGTON - Investors are not the only ones interested in hot initial public offerings.

SEC examiners this year will pay special attention to how mutual fund complexes allocate hot IPOs among the funds in their group, said Lori Richards, director of the SEC's office of compliance, inspections and examinations. In addition to examining fund advisers' IPO policies - a longstanding SEC practice - the SEC staff this year will be looking at how firms over time have made exceptions to those policies.