Special Program Root Tag

Advisers to 401(k) plans expect automatic enrollment and escalation to be the two most significant developments of defined contribution plans over the next three years, Putnam Investments found through a poll of 82 401(k) advisers.

Annuity products can work well for those seeking to convert retirement savings to retirement income, but they’re not for everyone.

At some summer camps, children learn to make macramé. At others, they learn to make millions, and keep it.

Michael J. Rice, former executive director and president of the private client group at Prudential Securities, settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission over charges he failed to supervise registered reps who permitted their hedge fund clients to market time mutual funds between 2000 and 2003. Without admitting to or denying wrongdoing, Rice is paying a $100,000 fine and will be suspended from supervising broker/dealers for a year.

While we will certainly give credit to Eliot "The Steamroller" Spitzer for taking on illicit trading and sales activities in the mutual fund industry while he was New York attorney general, we wondered why, when he was running for governor, he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from hedge funds, which, after all, were at the heart of the scandal. It's entirely possible some of the funds that showered Spitzer with money conducted market timing or late trading. That would make his acceptance of their contributions a serious conflict of interest and, possibly, a tacit agreement not to indict them.

Presidential candidate John Edwards, in a speech in Des Moines, Iowa, proposed increasing taxes on those earning more than $200,000 a year, as well as hedge fund investors. He would also put limits on executive pensions and end some tax breaks for multinational corporations.

Morgan Stanley’s alternative investment arm is launching a fund-of-funds specializing in global long/short equity strategies, according to HedgeWorld.com. The fund will be offered to qualified investors at $1,000 per share, with the initial closing date some time in 2008, according to a preliminary prospectus.

The consolidation of the NASD and the New York Stock Exchange into the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority received final regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission last week, according to Reuters.

Although the problems in the subprime mortgage and corporate debt markets are gaining steam slowly, they are certainly real and likely to lead to a serious economic downtown, BusinessWeek Online reports.

Failed hedge fund Amaranth Advisors and two traders have been accused of manipulating the natural gas markets by federal regulators and may face $291 million in penalties, according to The New York Times. The Greenwich, Conn.-based hedge fund shuttered its doors last year after it lost $6 billion.

Citigroup's Smith Barney division has agreed to pay $50 million to settle market-timing charges by the New York Stock Exchange and New Jersey regulators. Of the $50 million total, $40 million will go to investors who were harmed by the activity.

For decades, the question of investor access to company proxies has been a Pandora's box for the Securities and Exchange Commission, chock-full of competing interests and opinions from the investment community.

Bank and trust-controlled collective investment trusts (CITs) may give retail mutual fund companies a run for their money in 401(k) and other defined contribution plans.

Automatic 401(k) enrollment programs are making headway among corporations across America and are expected to gain increasing traction, helping more investors be better prepared for retirement, according to Fidelity Investments.

While we will certainly give credit to Eliot "The Steamroller" Spitzer for taking on illicit trading and sales activities in the mutual fund industry while he was New York attorney general, we wondered why, when he was running for governor, he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from hedge funds, which, after all, were at the heart of the scandal. It's entirely possible some of the funds that showered Spitzer with money conducted market timing or late trading. That would make his acceptance of their contributions a serious conflict of interest and, possibly, a tacit agreement not to indict them.

The Hartford Fined $115M In Rigging, Timing Case

Gisele Bundchen Index Struts its Stuff Past Dow

While the Millennial generation, those born between 1982 and 2000, are still a young population, eventually they will grow up to become the next generation of mass-affluent investors, following the current Baby Boomers.

FRC Promotes Fleites to Director of Retirement

With an eye firming fixed on the first wave of Baby Boomers about to retire, the insurance industry is repackaging its offerings as “retirement planning” tools, TheMotleyFool.com reports.