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Prudential Financial has named former Federal Bureau of Investigation Assistant Director Joseph Bill Jr. as vice president of global security. He will report to Chief Security Officer Lori Hennon-Bell, and will be responsible for domestic and international security and asset protection."We’re extremely pleased to welcome Joseph to Prudential’s security team,” said Joyce Leibowitz, senior vice president of Shared Services. “His experience and insight into international security further strengthens our ability to uphold the safety and security of our employees and stakeholders around the world.”During his 30-year career at the FBI, Billy served in a number of positions with the foreign counterintelligence program, the FBI/New York City Police Department's joint terrorism task force and most recently as assistant director in charge of the counterterrorism division in Washington, D.C.“Prudential is dedicated to protecting the company’s people and its assets, and Joseph’s impressive background and experience will help ensure that we can take our services to the next level,” said Hennon-Bell.

The Lincoln Financial Group has named Lisa Marie DeSimone to the position of vice president of corporate development, effective April 1. She was previously a senior vice president and senior financial services officer at Lincoln's affiliate Delaware Investments.DeSimone will report to Chief Financial Officer Fred Crawford and will be responsible for sourcing, evaluating and executing merger, acquisition and divestiture activities."With her knowledge of Lincoln Financial and background in both the insurance and asset management industries, Lisa is an ideal fit for this position and will play an instrumental part in executing our growth strategy across business lines," said Crawford.DeSimone previously worked for Smith Barney/Citigroup, as well as the A.M. Best Company and The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. She has a bachelor's degree in finance from The Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

China's securities regulator has approved the creation of three new mutual funds in an effort to bolster the country's sagging stock markets, the Xinhua news agency reports.New Century was approved for a stock fund and Lion and Changsheng were approved for funds that can have a stock/bond mixture.China's benchmark index Shanghai composite closed at a seven-month low of 3,962.673 on Friday.

The Investment Company Institute said total money market mutual fund assets rose for the week ending March 12 by $6.46 billion to $3.454 trillion.Retail money market mutual fund assets rose by $5.55 billion to $1.246 trillion, taxable money market fund assets in the retail category rose by $3.17 billion to $951.36 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets rose by $2.37 billion to $294.66 billion.Institutional money market fund assets rose by $913 million to $2.208 trillion, taxable money market fund assets fell by $1.98 billion to $2.027 trillion, and tax-exempt fund assets rose by $2.89 billion to $180.99 billion.Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet Inc., said the seven-day average yield on money market mutual funds fell from 2.78% on March 4 to 2.73% on March 11. The 30-day average yield fell from 2.96% to 2.88% during the same period.The seven-day compounded yield fell from 2.82% to 2.77%, while the 30-day compounded yield fell from 3.01% to 2.92%. The average maturity of portfolios held by money funds was 42 days, up from 41 days, Money Fund said.

The majority of economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal say the U.S. has finally slid into a recession.

Investors still have room for improvements in disclosure, transparency and shareowner influence on executive pay practices, according to an investment advocacy group.

The mutual fund industry in Mexico is poised for growth in the coming years as average household incomes increase and Mexican investors change their savings habits, according to Business News Americas.

Fund.com Inc. has appointed Philip Gentile as the institutional and consumer financial services company’s chief operating officer.

Chinese mutual funds posted moderate gains in February after declining more than seven percent in January, according to a recent report.

A federal judge in Pennsylvania has given final approval to a $14 million settlement against New York Life Insurance Co. by employees who said the company’s retirement plans were improperly invested into mutual funds owned by New York Life.

Janus Capital Group Inc. has announced the appointments of three investment management executives to its board of directors.

Charles Schwab has announced a new suite of funds designed to generate a targeted annual payout for retirees.

ING is providing 403(b) plan documents that public schools can use in order to meet new IRS requirements by next January.

Fund.com Inc. has named Gregory Webster as president.

Geode Capital Management LLC has named Patrick Perry as vice president of investor relations. He will report to Daniel Ludwig, CFA and senior vice president.

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, the former New York State attorney general who was instrumental in waging war against Wall Street corruption and the mutual fund industry’s after-hours trading and market-timing activities, publicly apologized Monday afternoon to his family and the public for unspecified behavior, but stopped short of resigning his position as governor.

Global alternative asset manager Blackstone Group reported a 90% drop in profit during the fourth quarter of 2007 compared to the same period in 2006 and warned that conditions will remain difficult for the rest of the year or longer.

Northern Trust has appointed Jon Dunham as head of North America asset servicing sales. He will report to Penelope Biggs, head of worldwide asset serving business development for Northern Trust.

Nationwide Financial Service Inc. has received an offer from its parent company Nationwide Mutual to buy its publicly held shares for $2.2 billion.

Innovation is the name of the game for Keith Geary, CEO, president and chairman of Capital West Securities, a small, 13-year-old Oklahoma City-based broker/dealer. The firm recently registered its new investment advisory arm OOK Advisors and last week filed to offer the Capital West Oklahoma Index Fund, the first ETF to invest exclusively in publicly-traded companies headquartered in Oklahoma. The ETF is expected to begin trading on the American Stock Exchange in April.