Special Program Root Tag

Private equity may not play a prominent role as it relates to buying up toxic assets, but sponsors are actively seeking the money-making operations of various banking institutions. The latest to dive into the fray was CVC Capital Partners, which acquired the iShares exchange-traded-funds business of Barclays Global Investors.

The first quarter was lackluster for financial services mergers and acquisitions, with only 37 deals, compared with 57 in the first quarter of 2008, Jefferies Putnam Lovell reported.

In a survey of the websites of financial services firms—fund companies not among them—public relations firm Weber Shandwick found that two-thirds, 66%, were not addressing the financial crisis. Only 15% actively sought to alleviate customers’ fears.

Five states are examining the underlying investment offerings in OppenheimerFunds’ 529 plan after two of the funds lost substantial amounts over the past year: the Oppenheimer Champion Income Fund is down 79%, and the Oppenheimer Core Bond Fund is down 41%.

Trading activity is reaching record levels at discount brokerages, as increasing numbers of mutual fund investors give up the ghost on long-term investing, The Wall Street Journal reports. About 20% of online investors, or 7.5 million people, have increased their trading levels, according to TowerGroup.

Exactly 50% of participants in 401(k) plans would like to have the option of rolling their money into a guaranteed income solution, but that does not exist in their plan, MetLife found in a recent survey, its seventh annual Employee Benefits Trends Study. Only 21% of employers said they would consider offering guaranteed income solutions, and only 16% of employers currently offer income annuities in their 401(k) plan.

Barclays Global Investors has hired Stephen Jobe as director of its iShares 529 programs.

Vanguard has launched the Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-U.S. Small-Cap exchange-traded fund, its 39th ETF. It tracks the FTSE Global Small Cap ex-U.S. Index.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. has hired Daniel G. Faryniarz as managing director of market structure and industry relations, a new position in which he will work to help identify and develop new front-office and trading opportunities.

The mutual fund industry got a swift dose of the new reality of investors' conservative sentiment recently when PIMCO released a survey showing that 401(k) consultants are focusing on cash-equivalent and target-date funds.

With about two dozen insurance companies downgraded by one or two notches to a negative outlook during the first quarter, brokers who sell variable annuities are beginning to wonder if those insurers will be able to honor the annuities’ guarantees.

OppenheimerFunds Makes Structural Changes Aimed At Better Risk Control

Putnam Hires Lewis as Director of DC Sales

One shift in distribution strategy the financial crisis has caused, which fund sales directors should take note of, is that banks are looking far more attractive to a variety of advisers and more are hiring top talent.

The top wealth management executive at Beneficial Bank in Philadelphia said his unit aims to take advantage of its rivals' "distractions."

Americans Still Committed To Investing, AARP Finds

401(k) Consultants Focusing on Preservation, Risk Management, Target-Date Funds

As mutual fund assets continue to decline and investors migrate to low-cost products, fund companies are struggling to make management fees stretch even farther.

While most mutual fund companies struggled in 2008, John Hancock Funds finished the year in solid standing, buoyed by a strong first half and careful strategic planning. President and CEO Keith Hartstein recently spoke with Money Management Executive's John Morgan about the key areas that drove Hancock's record $8.5 billion in sales, some regulations he would like to see changed and his outlook for the rest of 2009 and beyond.

By voting in favor of management proposals for large executive pay packages rather than shareholder proposals for pay tied to performance, fund companies are contributing to excessive pay, three groups charge.