Special Program Root Tag

The Investment Company Institute said last week that mutual fund assets worldwide increased 6.2 percent to $25.82 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2007. Asset growth was boosted in part by the participation in the data collection of an additional country.

Investors dramatically cut the amount of new money they put into hedge funds, Reuters said.

Tom Eggers, CEO and president of The Dreyfus Corporation, has elected to retire.

The F&C Enhanced Alpha UK Equity Fund, one of the first so-called 130/30 funds to focus on UK equities, has reported its sixth consecutive month of beating the market since it was launched in August last year.

Henderson Global Investors, the $123.6 billion investment management company, announced the Feb. 11 reopening of its flagship European Focus Fund to new investors.

High-ranking Wachovia bank executives knew about fraudulent and deceptive practices by one of its telemarketing firms, but continued to provide services to them anyway, The New York Times writes.

Average investors are getting cheated out of thousands of dollars in earnings for their 401(k) plans by hidden fees and expenses, according to Bloomberg.

Specialist fund groups and niche advisers will trump larger asset managers and consultants in the institutional marketplace of the future, according to the Financial Times.

MFS Investment Management has launched a new fund, the MFS Diversified Target Return Fund.

Advent Software Inc., a provider of software and solutions for the global investment management industry, announced that Fulcrum Group has implemented Geneva, its portfolio management and fund accounting solution.

Financial services company Scotia Bank has launched the Scotia Global Climate Change Fund, in Canada, which is designed for investors who are looking for exposure to environmentally responsible companies, without compromising on returns.

In lockstep with a broadened direction by insurance firms to strip off the complex bells-and-whistles riders and bonuses of the recent past and to issue packaged retirement income solutions-and meet the demands of the new buzzword: decumulation-the other publication I edit, Annuity Market News just relaunched on Friday as Retirement Income Reporter.

Whether you’re a NY Giants fan or a New England Patriots fan, one thing was clear. Super Bowl XLII was pretty much devoid of financial services advertising fluff while beer, soft drink and car ads dominated, as usual.

Learning about finance and how to manage your money is like learning a new language.

Fidelity Investments announced that it plans to lay off about 250 employees as part of a restructuring of some of its units.

Scotia Securities Inc. said today it will expand the lineup of its Scotia Funds with the introduction of a new class of funds to be called the ScotiaFunds Advisor Class.

Money market mutual funds that put cash into investments tied to the mortgage crisis and subprime debt saw huge gains last year, growing by more than 30% to $3 trillion, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

The number of brokers and financial advisors considering switching to another firm is expected to nearly double in 2008, up to 9% from 5% in 2007, according to a study released Monday.

Raymond B. Lang has been appointed the new chief executive officer of Fund.com Inc., replacing founder and director Daniel Klaus.

Weekly reporting municipal bond mutual funds had a net inflow of $468 million during the period ending Jan. 30, AMG Data Services reported. The results were down slightly from a $513 million inflow the previous week, but represent the fourth week of inflows following eight straight weeks of outflows, according to the Arcata, Calif.-based fund tracker. The category represents about 73% of all muni bond funds because it excludes those that report monthly.