Special Program Root Tag

Welcome to Money Management Executive's 6th Annual Fund Operations Awards.

This Tuesday, June 3, the Senate Banking Committee will consider three nominations to the Securities and Exchange Commission, possibly paving the way for a number of mutual fund measures to be decided upon.

Many mutual fund industry analysts are skeptical that the Securities and Exchange Commission will take final action on any of its outstanding proposals this year, but if it does, the summary prospectus and XBRL tagging are likely to top the list, with a proposal on changes to 12b-1 fees to follow in 2009.

While not exactly a national victory for the mutual fund industry, a recent court ruling regarding "excessive fees" could set a strong precedent for further disputes.

After spending the past 10 months as acting chief, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox finally decided to name Rosalind Tyson the official director of the commission’s Los Angeles office – a region that covers Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, and Hawaii.

In the midst of market turbulence, many investors are blindly rushing to gold without any concern for the long-term consequences of doing so.

Money market mutual fund assets fell $4.28 billion for the week ending May 28, to $3.505 trillion, according to the Investment Company Institute. Assets of retail money market mutual funds fell by $3.99 billion to $1.223 trillion.

NEW YORK—The European Union’s UCITS, or “Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities,” have been gaining tremendous traction throughout the EU, and even Latin America and Asia. Middle Eastern countries are even beginning to warm up to the instruments, as they are tightly regulated by their host countries and designed to protect the end investor.

Harry Lange, a manager of Fidelity Investment’s popular $40.5 billion Magellan fund, believes that once the effects of the central bank’s rate cuts and the government’s economic stimulus packages kick in, U.S. stocks could be near an “important bottom.”

Investors seem to be moving more money to U.S.-based stock mutual funds.

Rumors are floating around that investment-giant Morgan Stanley will enter into its first fund venture in China as early as next month, Reuters reports.

Pax World Management Corp. has formed the Pax World Women’s Advisory Council, comprised of nationally known leaders and experts on women’s issues.

The Senate Banking Committee will consider three nominations to the Securities and Exchange Commission this coming Tuesday, June 3.

Missouri State Treasurer Sarah Steelman has declared May 29 as “529 College Savings Day,” in part to draw attention to the tax-advantaged college savings plans and to roll out a new Web-based resource that allows family and friends to make online contributions.

Anthony Bolton, manager of Fidelity Investments’ Special Situations Fund in the U.K. for nearly 30 years—and who has turned out an average annual return of 19.5% in that time—is bearish on financials and mining stocks, The Wall Street Journal’s “Letter From the City” column reports this morning.

Michael Iavarone may have rung the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange yesterday and be poised, as owner of the magnificent Big Brown, to win the Triple Crown, but he can’t win them all.

In what some in the industry are heralding as a backhanded acknowledgement of 12b-1 fees, the Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly considering putting a cap on the controversial level-loads.

While it may not decide the fate of about a dozen similar “excessive fee” cases that were brought against mutual fund companies in 2003 and 2004, charging that they should impose institutional-share, rather than retail-share fees on individual investors, it is an important step in the right direction.

A study by the Genocide Intervention Network, conducted with Bloomberg, has found that companies that invest in countries with poor human rights practices make bad investments, both financially as well as ethically.

Despite strict guidelines and barriers within China, which tend to turn off global fund houses from conducting business, Fidelity International recently announced that it is ready and willing to pursue joint ventures there sometime in the near future.