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Vanguard Planning Launch Of Active Bond ETF

Depository Trust Names George Chief Risk Officer

WASHINGTON-What financial advisers say they look for when picking products-and what they actually need-are often two different things, according to speakers at the Money Management Institute's 10th Annual Convention held here last week.

NEW YORK-As volatility in the market increases, large-cap funds will come into favor, the global economy will continue to post favorable returns and the energy sector will still offer investing opportunities. This was the general market outlook for this year by presenters at the Lipper Leaders fund event here last week.

Financial markets firms have consistently earned more than the average company over the last decade, by a large margin, through innovation and value add. What's in store for the next decade? Suzanne Dence, a managing consultant with IBM, and Peter Poulin, global head of administration and accounting at Brown Brothers Harriman, explore this topic.

WisdomTree Investments, an exchange-traded fund firm started nine months ago, is gearing up to enter the retirement market. The New York firm has assets of $3.2 billion in its 36 ETFs, and it plans to make the funds available to the 401(k) marketplace shortly, said Al Shemtob, its director of retirement services.

The notion of "price" is a deceptively simple one in today's financial environment. Different uses-auditing, risk management and trading-can dictate different price calculation methodologies. It's particularly tricky given today's vast array of investment vehicles and when the price simply doesn't exist in the normally accepted places where it's expected to be found.

The independent broker/dealer marketplace now represents the fastest-growing distribution channel for providers of mutual funds, variable annuities and other packaged investments. Of the various distribution channels, independent intermediaries also represent the most direct-to-fund business.

Helene Glozter, co-head of enforcement in the New York office of the Securities and Exchange Commission since 2004, will be leaving the SEC this month to join Bridgewater Associates as corporate counsel and deputy chief compliance officer.The SEC said that the 37-year-old directed a number of high-profile cases during her tenure, including charges against the former general counsel of Monster Worldwide for backdating options, a settlement with Millennium Partners for market timing mutual funds and the Martha Stewart insider-trading case.

Morningstar’s first quarter profits rose 18% to $15.8 million, or 33 cents per diluted share, from $13.4 million, or 29 cents a diluted share, a year ago. Consolidated revenue was $95.4 million, a 36% increase from $70.1 million in the first quarter of 2006.“Our acquisition of S&P’s fund data business was the highlight of the quarter, and the integration is going very well,” commended Joe Mansueto, chairman and chief executive officer of Morningstar. “The S&P acquisition is already making contributions to our institutional and adviser businesses, particularly outside the United States, and we’re please with the progress we’ve made since we completed this deal less than two months ago. We’ve already re-branded many of the product and client websites, and our data integration should be completed in July.”

Assets in money market funds have been growing at an astounding pace over the past two years, rising 33%, or by $600 billion, to reach $2.4 trillion, the International Herald Tribune reports.The inverted yield curve has been driving their growth, as they offer higher returns that long-term bonds. The 100 largest money market funds, with holdings due to mature in about 30 days, yielded an average of 4.98%, according to Crane Data. By comparison, two-year Treasury notes are bearing 4.65%, and 10-year Treasury notes, not that much better, at 4.69%.

When governments in emerging markets borrowed money in dollars a decade ago, they risked sharp repayment rates when the value of their home currencies decreased. That resulted in a host of problems: large tax increases, cuts in government budgets, higher interest rates and corporate bankruptcies, The Wall Street Journal reports. Thailand, Indonesia, Korea, Russia and Brazil were some of the areas hardest hit.

Initial public offerings are occurring at rate that hasn’t been seen since the robust days of 1999 and 2000, according to BusinessWeek Online.

Investors with $5 million or more to invest are increasingly moving their money overseas, for fear that the U.S. is losing its competitive edge, Dow Jones reports, citing U.S. Trust’s 2007 Survey of Affluent Americans. On average, these investors expect to gain 9.66% abroad, versus 8.85% in the U.S.

National Bank of Canada and BNP Paribas announced Wednesday that they have formed a joint venture that will offer hedge fund managed accounts to retail and institutional investors. BNP is acquiring a stake in the bank’s subsidiary, Innocap Investment Management, which specializes in hedge fund managed accounts.

Rupert Murdoch’s $5 billion bid to acquire Dow Jones, a 65% premium over the company’s current market cap, sent shares soaring nearly 55%, TheStreet.com reports.

Tom Bailey, who founded Janus Capital and who stepped down as CEO in 2002, is now relinquishing his seat on the board since he has reached 72, the mandatory age for retirement at the firm, Rocky Mountain News reports.

Citigroup announced last Wednesday that it will acquire BISYS Group for $1.45 billion in cash and divest its retirement and insurance services units to J.C. Flowers, a private equity firm, for $650 million. Citigroup will keep BISYS’ fund and alternative investment units so that it can expand its services to hedge funds, mutual funds and private equity firms.

A.G. Edwards will pay the Securities and Exchange Commission $3.86 million to settle charges that it failed to supervise brokers who used deceptive means to engage in mutual fund market timing. The fine includes a civil penalty of $1.5 million and $2.36 million in disgorgement and interest.

Morningstar, which already has aggressively expanded its coverage of hedge funds’ performance in the past year from 3,500 funds to 6,000, plans to grow that coverage even further, Reuters reports, citing comments by Morningstar Director of Hedge Funds Ryan Tagal.As more investors add these instruments to their portfolios, the demand for information about them will increase, Tagal noted. He would not specify, however, by how much Morningstar plans to grow that business.