Special Program Root Tag

Evergreen Security investors are trying to recover $500,000 from the Orlando-based firm, whose management perpetrated the largest consumer-investment scam in Florida history in the 1990s, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Regulators and fund watchdogs are keeping their eye on mutual funds that are increasingly using complex products such as derivatives to boost returns, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Closed-end mutual funds are enjoying a peak in interest, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Although there has been much talk of late of the growing popularity of plan sponsors offering Roth 401(k)s, not everyone is a fan of them, MarketWatch reports, citing arguments by Lawrence Starr, president of Qualified Plan Consultants.

Francis William Reimers pled guilty to charges by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service that he defrauded hundreds of mutual fund investors, accepting six counts of mail fraud and one count of money laundering, U.S. Fed News reports.

Bill Nygren, manager of the Oakmark Fund, isn’t spooked by the subprime loan crisis, Bloomberg reports. In fact, he believes investors who are bailing out of bank shares are making a mistake.

Although the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed the findings of two cost/benefit studies it commissioned on the proposed independent directors rule late last year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sought access to the complete report, including any records supporting the decision to undertake the studies. The SEC decided not to share the information with the U.S. Chamber, a decision it is now appealing.

PALM DESERT, Calif.-Fund boards have a duty to shareholders to act as fiduciaries, but how much responsibility should fund directors have, and are they overloaded?

Forget spending retirement in a rocking chair on the front porch.

PALM DESERT, Calif.-Technology can be used as a leverage to help mutual fund firms better understand and reach their clients, agreed panelists at the Investment Company Institute's, "Mutual Funds and Investment Management Conference" here last month.

It's been three years since the Securities and Exchange Commission began requiring funds to annually disclose their proxy voting records. When the measure was passed, many dismissed it as a mere administrative nuisance, reasoning that even if investors eventually began to pour through funds' voting records, the day when they would be able to systematically make sense of the information, let alone actually be interested in it, was a long way off.

Kansas Denies Ex-Waddell Chief $1.2M Tax Refund

MassMutual Merging Annuity, Income Units, With Dickey at the Helm

Amid speculation that a sale of all or parts of financial servicing company BISYS Group of Roseland, N.J., are in the works, one hedge fund manager, Ahmet Okumus, president of Okumus Capital of New York, has been buying up shares of the firm and is looking for a seat on the company's board.

While some small banks have abandoned asset management or turned to third-party outsourcers, others are entering or remaining in the business.

Lincoln National Corp. is taking aim at Baby Boomers, according to The Wall Street Journal. President and Chief Operating Officer Dennis Glass, who was the chief executive of Jefferson Pilot until Lincoln took over that company last year, said that after the merger, the company spent a year examining its product line-up, and looking at how to best cater to the 90 million Americans expected to retire in the upcoming decade. Glass suggested the upcoming retirement wave is the most significant demographic event in history. Lincoln National’s focus is not unique among annuity providers, who are all introducing products to cater to retirees and compete for their attention with mutual fund complexes. Merrill Lynch Analyst Edward Spehar predicted in March that the company will continue to capture market share, citing “a function of living benefits features and reinvigorated wholesaling efforts.” Already, Lincoln National has targeted Boomers with products such as MoneyGuard, which combines long-term care insurance with life insurance, and i4Life, which is a variable annuity that allows certain flexibility when drawing income. Lincoln National combined its variable annuity and life insurance business with the Jefferson-Pilot universal life and fixed annuities products following the $7.5 billion acquisition last year. This week, the company announced plans to launch a unified product portfolio, which will target Boomers who are retired as well as those approaching retirement. The staff of Money Management Executive ("MME") has prepared these capsule summaries based on reports published by the news sources to which they are attributed. Those news sources are not associated with MME, and have not prepared, sponsored, endorsed, or approved these summaries.

The Carlyle Group, a $56 billion private equity colossus, lans to launch a $1 billion hedge fund, unnamed company insiders told The Wall Street Journal and Reuters. The Journal reported the launch would take place next month, but the Reuters story refuted that date. Insiders say the fund, the first in the buy-out firm’s Carlyle-Blue Wave hedge fund unit, is called Carlyle Multi-Strategy and has been trading with internal money for two weeks. The Journal reported that public records in the U.K. show that a London-based offshoot of the Carlyle-Blue Wave Partners Management was incorporated three weeks ago. The Carlyle Group already operated 48 funds, divided among buy-outs, venture capital, real estate and leveraged finance. The staff of Money Management Executive ("MME") has prepared these capsule summaries based on reports published by the news sources to which they are attributed. Those news sources are not associated with MME, and have not prepared, sponsored, endorsed, or approved these summaries.

Financial data provider SNL Financial, known for providing data to money managers about various financial institutions, energy companies, real estate firms and media conglomerates, has acquired Kagan Research, a company that specializes in providing financial data on various communications sectors. Based in Charlottesville, N.C., SNL has offices in Amedabad, India, Arlington, Va., Islamabad, Pakistan, Jersey City, N.J., London and New York. Kagan, based in Monterey, Calif, specializes in collecting financial data for broadcast television and radio stations, satellite, wireless, entertainment companies and programming sectors. Besides data, the company offers reference tests, newsletters consulting and executive forums. “This acquisition instantly positions us as the foremost source of must-have information on the sector,” said SNL President Mike Chin. “Our merger with SNL’s information platform will help make Kagan research more accessible than ever,” said Derek Maine and Robin Flynn, senior vice presidents at Kagan, in a joint prepared statement.

As the use of alternative investments, particularly derivatives, increase in portfolios, Parametric Portfolio Associates has seized an opportunity and merged with Managed Risk Advisors to expand its use of options and other derivatives in client portfolios. Westport, Conn.-based Managed Risk Advisors will merge into an affiliate of Parametric, called Parametric Risk Advisors. The deal is expected to close in the next six weeks and is subject to standard client consent and regulatory requirements. Parametric, a Seattle-based subsidiary of Eaton Vance Corp., has $20 billion in assets under management. “This is an important initiative for Parametric that will extend our offerings for the wealth and management market,” said Brian Langstraat, chief executive officer. “Having an embedded derivatives capability creates new opportunities for us to add value and to respond to client needs,” he said. Parametric Risk Advisors will operate under the direction of its senior executives in Westport, Conn. It will offer managed covered call writing programs to enhance the risk and return of both concentrated stock positions and diversified equity portfolios. Additionally, the new affiliate will advise on the structuring of various hedging and monetizing strategies used in the management of concentrated stock positions.

The annual median compensation for mutual fund directors increased 16% last year from 2005, according to Management Practice’s annual survey of mutual fund director compensation and governance practices. The numbers show a fifth straight year of double-digit growth since the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley in 2002. The Stamford, Conn.-based consulting firm surveyed 1,967 directors from 337 fund families. The annual median total compensation, including retainers plus meeting fees of trustees in the largest families with assets over $80 billion, increased to $171,775. When factoring in the number of funds governed, those with 75 funds or more, the number decreased to $161,625. Directors who oversee firms with $4 billion to $10 billion had compensation increase to $47,075. When measured in terms of the number of funds governed the compensation was $70,000 for directors overseeing 19 to 29 funds. There is a demand for specialized knowledge among directors that has driven overall compensation to record levels, Management Practice noted. The premium for audit committee financial experts, the depth of knowledge required of compliance committee chairs and the securities expertise needed to serve as chair of the investment or performance committee have all driven the fees paid to the independent director higher, Management Practice said.