Special Program Root Tag

WisdomTree Investments, which offers market indexes and exchange-traded funds, has formed a new 401(k) division, Reuters reports.

ABN Amro has launched the first socially responsible investing fund in India, the Amro Sustainable Development Fund, which will invest 65% of its assets in companies that disclose their policies on environmental, social and corporate governance, the Asia Times reports.

The Fidelity International European Fund took top place this quarter as it posted the highest returns of Europe’s 10 biggest stock mutual funds, according to Bloomberg.

In poll after poll, Americans claim that they use their tax refunds to pay major bills or to augment their savings. But that belies what they really do, USA Today reports.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering forcing mutual funds to disclose fees and performance as simple numbers, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox told the Los Angeles Times in an interview. Funds should report “one simple number that captures fees and expenses,” he said, noting that the information is typically buried in fund prospectuses.

Recent chatter about making hedge funds with a physical presence in the United States register with U.S. regulators is making waves in the Cayman Islands, according to the online Financial Times.

European mutual fund executives told the Committee of European Securities Regulators last week that indexes linked to hedge funds’ performance are becoming more commonplace in the investment management industry and that they should be allowed to invest in derivatives linked to such indexes. Last month, the committee indicated it was considering passing such a measure. So reports the International Herald Tribune.

In March 2000, there were 275 funds delivering returns of 100% of more in the previous year. Twenty four of them delivered returns of 200% or more and the PBHG New Opportunities Fund rose a staggering 533%.

To meet the growing demand among Asian investors for local investments—and in spite of the market’s downturn in February—Japanese asset managers are bolstering their offices in Asia, Nikkei Weekly reports.

Although the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed the findings of two studies it commissioned into the cost and benefit of the proposed independent chairman 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 in the first place. But the SEC has decided not to share the information with the U.S. Chamber, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Chamber is appealing the decision.

MassMutual announced Monday that it has merged its annuity and income management divisions to better serve the growing retirement income market.

Charles Schwab has launched three index mutual funds based on fundamentally weighted, rather than market cap-weighted, indexes. They are the Schwab Fundamental U.S. Large Company Index Fund, the Schwab Fundamental U.S. Small-Mid Company Index Fund and the Schwab Fundamental International Large Company Fund.

Because of the proliferation of the Internet and its nearly universal use by fund investors, it is likely that fund companies will finally succeed in supplanting traditional mutual fund prospectuses with prospectus profiles, according to Dow Jones columnist Chuck Jaffe. A study by the Investment Company Institute found that 92% of fund investors have Internet access and 70% use it every day.

Investors age 50 and above are overwhelmed by mutual fund choices, frustrated by complicated prospectuses and unsure of where to turn to advice. These were some of the key findings from a survey of investors in the Phoenix area by AARP Financial.

The comment period for the independent directors rule ended a month ago, and as the Securities and Exchange Commis-sion nears a vote on the measure, speculation is increasing that it will bend to the industry's fierce opposition to having fund boards run by independent chairmen. SEC Chairman Christopher Cox recently said that one alternative might be appointing a lead independent director, and industry insiders have indicated that the SEC might merely call having an independent chairman a "best practice."

Regulators in Utah have dropped charges of fraud and apologized for dinging the reputation of two First Western Advisors brokers, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

PALM DESERT, Calif.-Interactive data, books and recordkeeping requirements and 12b-1 fees were a few of the key issues repeatedly discussed at the Investment Company Institute's "Mutual Funds and Investment Management Conference" here last week.

PALM DESERT, Calif.-Modernizing fund rules, remembering fundamental basics of serving investors, keeping a watchful eye on globalization of the fund industry and facing risky practices head-on were key points of Andrew Donohue's keynote speech at the Investment Company Institute's "Mutual Funds and Investment Management Conference" here last week.

OppenheimerFunds has led a group of dissident shareholders of Take-Two Interactive Software in booting out Chief Executive Paul Eibeler and replacing the board with six new directors, Reuters reports. The company’s chairman is now Strauss Zelnick, who was once chairman of BMG Entertainment. Zelnick said he plans to make the company more efficient, although he does not anticipating cutting any jobs in the near future.

Amaranth Advisors, the largest hedge fund in history to collapse, had its first investor lawsuit filed against it last week by the San Diego County Employees Retirement Association, according to Reuters.The lawsuit claims that Amaranth’s investing strategy violated its contract that stipulated that the firm’s strategies would be diversified and it would take proper risk controls.