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The subprime crisis has proved that mutual fund executives should reassess their risk management procedures, according to a Tower Group report called "Multifunctional Integration: The Positive Side of Risk."

Standish Becomes Director At Fisher Wealth Mgmt.

Asset Management Firms Hiring More Aggressively

NEW YORK-Millions of Baby Boomers in their 50s are woefully unprepared for retirement, but it's not too late to convince them to start planning.

Women who have gone through major life events, typically widows and divorcees, are often better prepared to deal with their own finances and retirement plans because they have been forced to sit down with an adviser, according to a recent study by OppenheimerFunds.

Charles Schwab is successfully selling off $8 billion in potentially risky structured investment vehicles (SIVs) that it held in six money market funds, according to a research report from Sanford C. Bernstein, Reuters reports. Thus, Bernstein doesn’t believe the funds will suffer any adverse effects from the subprime crisis.

Fidelity Investments has hired Marvin Adams as president of Fidelity Shared Services, which has 12,000 employees and itself runs Fidelity Technology Group, Fidelity Enterprise Operations and Fidelity Real Estate Company. The technology group runs both internal and customer technology, while the operations unit handles pricing, cash management and outsourced services in India. The real estate division provides real estate planning.

Prudential Financial has entered into a partnership with real estate development company DLF of India to create a joint venture there, with Prudential owning 61% of the venture, The Wall Street Journal reports. The new company will offer local and international mutual funds.

The number of exchange-traded funds traded on the London Stock Exchange has doubled this year to 100, up from 46 at the end of 2006, Fund Strategy reports.

AIM Investments has created a tool that financial advisers can use to work with 401(k) sponsors in a product-neutral way to select and monitor retirement savings plans. Called AIM PlanForward Module 6—Understanding Retirement Plan Fees and Expenses, the software program is said to be product-neutral and gives advisers an additional tools to demonstrate their merit to sponsors.

Fidelity Investments released the results of its first annual College Savings Indicator on Wednesday, which tracks how well prepared parents are to meet future college costs, which are currently projected to top an average of $100,000 nationwide for today’s high school seniors.

The membership base of The Advertising Research Foundation has become far broader, with Fidelity Investments, Prudential, Citibank and Capitol One among the newest members of this group whose mission is to help advertisers more effectively reach customers through new media. The National Football League and HBO also recently joined.

Claims by 11 additional investors who lost a combined $62 billion have been filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority against Bear Stearns over the $1.6 billion collapse of two hedge funds it managed, Reuters reports.

MassMutual will be the exclusive sponsor of a documentary on preparing for retirement that will air nationally on PBS stations across the U.S. this coming April.

Vanguard Group has launched the Vanguard Market Neutral Fund. The fund, created through the recent reorganization of the Laudus Rosenberg U.S. Large/Mid Capitalization Long/Short Equity Fund, is expected to appeal primarily to endowments, foundations, and other institutional investors, the company said.

A number of managers of international and emerging markets mutual funds who had invested heavily, and successfully, in China are now cutting back on their holdings, the Associated Press reports.

A Missouri court has decided to allow a lawsuit by employees of Swiss manufacturer ABB against the company and Fidelity Investments to have class-action status, The Wall Street Journal reports. The suit accuses the company of charging excessive retirement plan fees and not disclosing the fees.

Although it became apparent two months ago that a handful of money market funds held subprime paper through structured investment vehicles (SIVs), at least a dozen more hold SIVs that Moody’s Investors Service said on Friday it might downgrade, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The subprime crisis has triggered a tumultuous year for the stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has hit a record high 34 times, and the U.S. stock market has swung 2% or more on 20 days. That said, The Wall Street Journal turned to a dozen leading investment executives for their take on what investors should take from 2007.

Judge Paul A. Crotty of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that defendant Salomon Brothers sufficiently proved that the fees it charged on nine of its mutual funds were justifiable in light of the funds’ superior performance and customer service, Dow Jones reports.