Special Program Root Tag

WASHINGTON—Charles Schwab knew when it came out with its mutual fund wrap program in July that it would have to do more than simply launch the product if it was to pull in assets, since many competitors had been offering such products for years, according to MME sister publication, American Banker.

Nomura Holdings will pay $88 million for a 15% stake in eight-year-old Fortress Investment Group, according to the Dow Jones. The Japanese brokerage is looking to strengthen its position in alternative investment products and wants to diversify its portfolio of businesses.

U.S. firms Merrill Lynch and Claymore Investments are dominating non-principal-protected securities in the Canadian market, according to the National Post. The products offer retail investors an enhanced return from an investment in a basket of stocks and it are expected to become even more popular next year.The two firms are set to wrap up their latest offering in two days. Tomorrow, the Merrill Lynch Claymore Global Fundamental Index Accelerator will close, about six weeks after the first version of the product wrapped up a similar offering.

Competition is going to heat up next year in the hedge fund world and subsequently portfolio managers will see larger payouts, according to HedgeWorld.com.Profit-and-loss payouts to portfolio managers, based on a fund’s profits minus expenses, will increase to a range of about 8% to 20% due to heavy competition, according to a survey by executive recruiting firm Long Ridge Partners of New York. Additionally, Long Ridge predicted average payouts would grow by around 15%, a three percentage-point increase from this year.

Seven mutual funds that have a common approach of cautious yet successful strategies are good picks for investors to count on for the long term, according to Fortune.Fortune analyzed Morningstar data to screen for funds with both total returns and investor returns in the top 20% of their categories over 10 years.

Goldman Sachs has named veteran risk manager Marc Spilker as new chief of its alternative management business, which includes hedge funds, according to Reuters.

The U.K. REIT market may be become more popular next year as a result of new regulations. The area may be popular with investors looking for a direct investment in property with the ability to generate income, according to Citywire.Under new regulations, new property companies will no longer need to be listed when they apply for REIT status and will have one-year grace periods during which they do not have to satisfy stringent income and asset tests.

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) should stick to the tactics that made them so successful in the first place, according to MotleyFool columnist and Certified Financial Planner Buz Livingston.

Dow Jones Columnist Chuck Jaffe added Jack Bogle, BYSIS clients, ProFunds, the SEC and even investors in his 11th annual “Lump of Coal” list.

Dow Jones Columnist Chuck Jaffe added Jack Bogle, BYSIS clients, ProFunds, the SEC and even investors in his 11th annual “Lump of Coal” list.

Morningstar Director of Mutual Fund Research Russ Kinnel wants investors to get smarter, but it’s going to take a little more faith—and more stringent disclosure requirements—from the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to his most recent column.

The NASD fined four brokerage firms $850,000 for failing to waive front-end sales charges for customers buying Class A shares by not having adequate supervisory systems and procedures in place. In addition, the companies must repay $43.8 million to the overcharged customers.

The Ghost of Christmas Past seemed to float through the Securities and Exchange Commission's end-of-year meeting, with regulators re-visiting the haunting issues of hedge fund regulation and the composition of mutual fund boards.

BOSTON-DWS Scudder plans to grow with the aging.

NEW YORK-The market has the potential to perform well next year, better than this year, as the pre-presidential election cycle begins, the Federal Reserve has been pausing rates and investor confidence is high, all factors that could influence next year, experts say.

Responding to an influx of applications for new exchange-traded funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly working on a new rule that would speed up their approval process. Because the products are hybrids somewhere in between stocks and mutual funds, they currently have to apply for exemptive relief.

William Galvin, Massachusetts secretary of the commonwealth, has taken issue with a recent Wall Street Journal editorial praising the proposed merger of the regulatory units of the NASD and the New York Stock Exchange.

Confidence among wealthy investors declined last month for the first time in three months, according to an index compiled by Spectrem Group. The Spectrem Millionaire Investor Index fell three points from October, to 12, after two months of steady increases. The index, which had risen two points in October and 12 in September, remained in mildly bullish territory, despite the November decline.

Wilmington Trust Selects Gaynor, Urbon as Advisers

Now that the Pension Protection Act extends 529 college savings plan features that were set to expire after 2010-the most important being tax-free withdrawals-assets in 529 plans could surge even faster than the 30% clip at which they have been growing over the past two years. Last year, assets in 529s rose 30.8% to $68.4 billion, and this year, they've risen another 31.5% to $90 billion, according to data from Financial Research Corp. and the College Savings Plan Network.