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Hedge Funds Losing Luster Among Ultra-Wealthy

Fidelity Shakes Up Exec Ranks as Reynolds Retires

NEW YORK-No matter what kind of gloom-and-doom statistics financial companies compile about unprepared Baby Boomers' retirement, those that want to sell product should ditch the fire-and-brimstone talk. What Boomers really want to hear is that the best is yet to come.

NEW YORK-Hedge funds can't run or hide from regulators, and the accredited investor, anti-fraud and insider trading rules will be three of the key issues the Securities and Exchange Commission will focus on this year, Bruce Karpati, assistant regional director at the SEC told attendees at the National Investment Company Service Association's "Alternative Investments Conference" here last week.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. has named Douglas J. George managing director and chief risk officer, a new position at the organization.

Claymore Securities added two new exchange-traded-funds to its lineup last week, bringing the total offering to 20.

It will soon be easier for Morningstar customers to receive and analyze fund information.

TIAA-CREF has adjusted the asset allocation in its seven lifecycle funds, increasing the equity exposure from 80% to 90% at the outset and from 35% to 50% in the first 10 years after retirement. At that point, the equity exposure will be reduced to 40%.

Fund companies trying to encourage people to plow their tax refunds into retirement savings accounts such as IRAs will have some stiff competition from debt and everyday consumerism, according to a survey conducted by Visa USA.

Janus Capital reported first-quarter earnings increased 0.8% to $35.6 million, or 19 cents a share, up from $35.3 million, or 17 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. That met analysts’ expectations of 19 cents a share.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday that it has distributed $79 million to current and former customers of Edward Jones that were impacted by its revenue-sharing activity.

Financial advisers are bullish on the U.S. economy and markets, Brinker Capital found in its first quarterly Brinker Barometer, in which the firm surveyed advisers about the economy, retirement savings, investing and market performance.

While talk of competition from hedge funds, private equity and alternative investments might be sending shivers down the spines of some mutual fund executives, by many major barometers, the industry seems to be holding up to its rivals, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Securities and Exchange Commission paid the first of three installments of a total of $267 million from a fair fund to PBHG investors who were harmed by market-timing and late-trading activity in the funds, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. So, far, $125 million has been sent to 254,000 investors. A total of 384,000 will eventually be paid, with Sept. 30 being the last installment.

The U.S. Attorney General’s office arrested John P. Tomkins, a 42-year-old machinist from Dubuque, Iowa, on Wednesday, on suspicions he is the culprit who sent dud pipe bombs to the offices of American Century and Janus Capital with ominous messages signed “The Bishop,” the Associated Press reports. Tomkins, who was once a part-time U.S. Postal Service letter carrier, was on his way to work at a manufacturing facility. Federal agents began searching his home and a storage facility on Wednesday, and he was scheduled to appear in court in the afternoon.

Waddell & Reed announced Wednesday that its first-quarter profit rose 17% from a year earlier to $28.7 million, or 35 cents a share, from $24.6 billion, or 30 cents a share, in the first quarter of 2006.

Although T. Rowe Price’s profits rose 22% in the first quarter of the year to $143 million, up from $116.7 million in the first quarter of 2006, the profits were slightly below the $147.3 million analysts expected.

XTF Advisors, which specializes in exchange-traded funds, has launched nine funds-of-funds that will invest in ETFs and that are specifically designed for the 401(k) market.

With fund companies’ April 16 deadline for putting information-sharing agreements on market timing activity in place with intermediaries, it has become apparent that some funds are now charging redemption fees, The Wall Street Journal reports. Others, however, have dropped them.

More than 40 hedge funds throughout Europe have gone public in the last two years, raising more than $13.5 billion, but the rash of initial public offerings flooding the market there coupled with weak performance is causing many investors to lose interest, The Wall Street Journal reports.