Special Program Root Tag

Mary Schapiro, chief executive officer of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, recommended that the brokerage industry be continue to be self-regulatory, but overseen by one tier looking for systemic risk and another scrutinizing business conduct. Schapiro made the remarks at the annual meeting of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

MFS Investment Management has formed a defined contribution investment only (DCIO) business development office, to be headed by Matt Gannon, who now assumes the title of senior vice president and director of DCIO and strategic alliances.

While leading banks, mortgage originators and brokers, insurers and investment banks have all taken serious hits from the financial crisis, investment management firms—most notably mutual fund companies—have been holding strong, buoyed by a steady stream of fees.

Banks and other financial companies that are willing to stomach a few more quarters of volatility could find themselves well positioned to acquire wealth management companies or talent, according to analysts and industry executives.

Despite the earth-shaking, “extraordinary” events in September, and the stock market declines “of historic proportions,” financial advisers are still telling investors to stay the course and predicting the financial crisis will continue as a recession through next year—but won’t worsen into a Depression, Money magazine and the Orlando Sentinel report.

While reports have surfaced in recent weeks of incredibly wide discounts on closed-end funds that signal undue risk, rather than buying opportunities, some financial advisers say that with a little homework, there are, actually, some wise buys to be had on closed-end funds, Dow Jones reports. Further, with most closed-end funds paying dividends, that is yet another strong case for considering such funds.

For many of the same reasons exchange-traded funds are so popular in bull runs, ETFs are appealing to investors in the market downturn; investors awaiting a turnaround in the economy, but not knowing which pockets will come out first ahead, are seeking broad market exposure, The Wall Street Journal reports.

OppenheimerFunds Retirement Services has produced a white paper to publicize its retirement assistance program designed to help 401(k) plan participants take advantage of their plans' benefits. The white paper focuses on the value of OppenheimerFunds' Tru(k)ourse, an enhancement to the firm's Pinnacle and Record(k)eeper Pro platforms. Tru(k)ourse is designed to help plan sponsors by combining automatic enrollment, automatic deferral increases and a Qualified Default Investment Alternative (QDIA).

Needles Now President at Touchstone Investments

Paulson Outlines Recapitalization For Banks, Thrifts

Few people know as much about mutual funds as Matthew P. Fink. For more than 40 years, Fink dedicated his career to serving the industry and its 88 million shareholders through his work for the Investment Company Institute, serving as its president from 1991 to 2004.

WASHINGTON - Despite signs of renewed strength in the credit markets, the Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday unveiled a new program to provide more liquidity to money market mutual funds.

JPMorgan Investor Services, PNC and Principal Financial take top honors in Money Management Executive's 2008 Fund Operations Awards. Now in its sixth year, the program honors industry leaders in three categories: Leadership, Innovation and Efficiencies/Streamlining.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - Despite the recent daily thousand-point swings in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the understandable uncertainty among investors, Individual Retirement Accounts and 401(k) plans still remain American's dominant and trusted retirement vehicles.

NEW YORK — J.P. Morgan Investor Services, PNC and Principal Financial have been honored with first-place for Leadership, Innovation and Efficiencies/Streamlining, respectively, in Money Management Executive’s 2008 Fund Operations Awards.

Of the 8,000 hedge funds in existence, as many as one-third will close their doors, Emmanuel Roman, head of GLG Partners predicted at a conference on hedge funds in London, Dow Jones Reports.

Following its $50 billion acquisition of Merrill Lynch, Bank of America plans to move the major part of its wealth management from Boston to New York, The Boston Globe reports. That means that BoA’s U.S. Trust private banking unit and Columbia Management mutual funds groups will also make the move.

After several false starts, Reserve Funds announced it is planning to honor $25 billion of redemptions in its Primary Fund by the end of the month, plus cash accumulated, as well as $3 billion for its Government Fund seven to 10 days thereafter. Reserve has been trying to reimburse investors $20 billion, initially scheduled for Oct. 13, and has now increased that initial figure to $25 billion.

XBRL US is asking mutual fund companies, investors and users of prospectus filing information for feedback through Nov. 24 on how well their suggested data tags will work for mutual fund summaries on risk/returns and schedules of investments.

With the markets tumbling, a recession on the horizon and people growing increasingly fearful of losing their jobs, more parents are delaying saving for their children’s college education, Investment News reports. Sales of 529 plans fell 33% in the first six months of the year to $6.3 billion, down from $9.8 billion a year earlier.