Special Program Root Tag

Presidential candidate Sen. Hilary Clinton (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday proposed government-sponsored 401(k)s that she called American Retirement Accounts, in which people could invest up to $5,000 a year, the Associated Press reports.

Teams of women managing mutual funds do just as well as men, in terms of performance, but when the managers are both men and women, performance often suffers, The New York Times reports.

JPMorgan plans to offer its first overseas mutual fund through its joint venture in China next week.

Pioneer Investments has signed an agreement to acquire a 51% stake in India’s Bank of Baroda and also is in the process of launching an asset management firm in Russia, which it hopes to debut in December.

With emerging markets funds delivering returns of even more than 30% a year over the past few years, they have become more mainstream, the Washington Post reports. And as a result, it has become more difficult for managers of such funds to deliver strong returns.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is raising the bar for mutual fund companies’ compliance programs, having found 40% of such programs deficient in 2006, according to a new white paper from SEI Investments. Another reason the SEC has higher standards is because of its CCOutreach programs, which are meant to better educate fund compliance and regulatory staff.

As competition not only among mutual fund companies intensifies but is further challenged by the encroachment of hedge funds, more firms will be offering alternative investment funds, the Financial Times reports. And as a result, assets in such funds could soon account for as much as 10% of the industry’s assets. Alternative asset funds include market-neutral and 130/30 and other types of long-short funds.

Michael K. Clark, former chief executive officer of the worldwide securities services business at JPMorgan, has joined Fidelity as president of Fidelity Institutional Services. He will assume many of the duties previously held by Ellyn McColgan, who resigned in August.

The just-released annual report of the Regions Morgan Keegan Select High Income Fund and the Regions Morgan Keegan Select Intermediate Bond Fund indicate that funds with subprime mortgage-backed securities and other structured products have turned overwhelmingly to fair value to price their holdings, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Investment Company Institute announced Friday that its board of governors has elected John V. Murphy, chairman and chief executive officer of OppenheimerFunds, chairman. He succeeds Martin L. Flanagan, president and CEO of Invesco, who will now become vice chairman.

Business groups testified last week that disclosing 401(k) fees to investors would confuse them, while shareholder advocates said it would lead to lower fees and a better quality of life for retirees because that would boost their savings, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Data proves that international fund arbitrage, or market timing in international funds, has ended, MarketWatch reports.

Fines, being barred from the industry and even facing years behind bars evidently won't deter some market timers looking for a quick, sure buck.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has settled its lawsuit against Mutuals.com and two related investment advisors, Connely Dowd Management and MTT Fundcorp, along with the firms' three principals, Richard Sapio, Eric McDonald and Michele Leftwich.

Four fund firms that manage closed-end funds were sanctioned and fined a collective $1.7 million on Sept. 28 by the Securities and Exchange Commission for not properly disclosing the true nature of shareholder distributions made under their fund's managed distribution plans.

Investors large and small have weighed in on two Securities and Exchange Commission proposals dealing with shareholders' rights to nominate directors to company boards. With the comment period ended last Tuesday, many now say they fear their rights may be curtailed.

Automatic enrollment and automatic escalation will be the two most significant developments of defined contribution plans over the next three years, according to 401(k) plan advisers polled by Putnam Investments.

Fines, being barred from the industry and even facing years behind bars evidently won't deter some market timers looking for a quick, sure buck.

Lyons Becomes Director On Morningstar Board

As smaller hedge funds increasingly expand into foreign countries, they must pay as much attention to building solid operational infrastructure as they do to chasing alpha.