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John Hancock Retirement Plan Services announced Tuesday that it is offering eight target-date funds and one retirement income fund to 401(k) investors.

The Securities and Exchange Commission expects to charge more hedge funds with illegal trading, said Linda Thomsen, the director of enforcement at the SEC, Bloomberg reports.

Citing a dearth of reasonably priced securities and expectations that earnings growth will slow down, portfolio managers are increasing their cash exposure, Bloomberg reports. One such manager is Charles de Vaulx of the value-oriented First Eagle Overseas Fund. “We haven’t been able to identify enough cheap securities to replace the ones we’ve lost to takeovers and those we decided to sell,” said de Vaulx, who has increased his cash exposure to 25% from 18%. Chief investment strategists at a number of leading investment firms are now recommending cash exposure of between 20% and 25%. The include managers at Bank of America Securities, Bear Stearns, JPMorgan Chase and Merrill Lynch. Funds typically hold less than 10% of their assets in cash, with many keeping that to a 5% minimum, according to Paul Herbert, an analyst at Morningstar.

After steep selling between May and August, investors are, once again, returning to emerging-markets funds, with the sector taking in a net of $2.5 billion over the past five weeks, MarketWatch reports, citing data from Emerging Portfolio Fund Research. “It’s the longest streak since markets corrected beginning in mid-May,” noted Brad Durham, managing director at Emerging Portfolio Fund Research. “Emerging markets have resumed their record-setting pace of earlier in the year.” Year to date, emerging-markets funds have taken in $17.4 billion, up 21% from $14.3 billion in the comparable period of 2005. 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.

Robert M. Gates, the President’s pick to replace ousted Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, is expected to resign from Fidelity Investment’s Board of Trustees, if confirmed by Congress. Besides his post at the closely help Boston fund company, Gates will also step down from his full-time position as president of Texas A&M University. “On behalf of Fidelity, we are grateful that Bob Gates has served the Fidelity funds and the funds’ shareholders for the last nine years with distinction,” said Chief Operating Officer Robert Reynolds. Gates, who headed the Central Intelligence Agency under President George H.W. Bush, will step aside to avoid the appearance of any conflict of interest, according to the Journal. The news about Gates comes amid several shake-ups at the company, including manager changes and a reduction of fees for Fidelity-controlled college-savings 529 plans in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Delaware and Arizona, which, collectively, represent $7 billion in savings. Fidelity recently also won the California contract. Plans call for elimination of the $20 annual fee and dropping the minimum monthly contribution form $50 to $15. Among management changes, Jennifer Uhrig has been named manager of the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund, succeeding John McDowell, who is retiring, and Brian Hanson, who will remain with the Fidelity Advisor Strategic Growth Fund, is now also manager of the Fidelity VIP Growth Stock Portfolio. Jason Weiner will take Uhrig’s old post as manager of the Advisor Growth Equity Fund and the Fidelity VIP Growth Portfolio. Robert Bertleson will take Weiner’s old job, managing the $4.6 billion Fidelity Independence Fund, and the Fidelity Advisor Fifty funds. Wiener also served as an associate portfolio manager for the Fidelity VIP Contrafund starting in March. Peter Saperstone will take the reigns at the $1.2 billion fidelity Fifty Fund and the Fidelity Advisor Fifty Fund. Robert Chow will become manager of the Fidelity Equity Income II Fund, while Scott Offen moves into the manager’s seat at the Advisor Equity Value Fund, and Richard Fentin takes over as portfolio manager for the VIP Value Portfolio. The triumvirate replace Stephanie DuFour. Last, but not least, James Morrow will succeed Timothy Cohen at the Fidelity Advisor Diversified Stock Fund. 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.

Charles Schwab & Company has begun to beam investment news and commentary to customers via RSS and audio files. Jumping into the latest investor-communication trends, the San Francisco-based broker/dealer and financial services firm now offers both services through its website. Schwab now joins companies including Fidelityand Wells Fargo in aiming to make use of popular technologies to expand their brands. Those who want articles and commentary, ranging form the Market Insight summaries from Chief Investment Strategist Liz Ann Sonders, to personal finance tips featured in its “Ask Carrie” column, can sign up for RSS, or real simple syndication, as service that notifies users whenever new content is available. Those who think listening to “Market Update” or Sonder’s “Straight Talk,” might liven up their commutes, or even time on the treadmill can now download audio files ready-to-play on the iPod, Schwab announced.

As high fees, fat profit margins and the ability to maneuver in ways more regulated vehicles cannot draw especially talented money managers to he hedge fund industry, those left managing mutual funds are not as successful or worth it for investors, a Forbes columnist recently charged. “The typical mutual fund manager is an average Joe or Jane, whose assets are smaller, The small investor has less room for error and he or she tends to know little about investments,” writes Laszio Birinyi, Jr., president of Birinyi Associates, a financial consulting firm in Westport, Conn. “As the recent scandals showed, some mutual fund managers count on sticking it to the small investor.” Birinyi notes that performance for “the vast majority” of mutual funds lags the S&P, with large-caps faring far behind, yielding only 0.2% through Sept. 30, according to data from Lipper. The culprit is complacency, according to Birinyi. “Funds are, alas, marketing machines first and investing ones second,” he said. Investors heed the buy-and-hold advice, he said. Meanwhile, fund managers collect the fees. “And what do you get for the fees you pay your mutual fund investor? Herd investing,” he said. Birinyi urges investors to build their own portfolios with stocks or exchange-traded funds, with their own interests in mind. For example, he advocates buying low, especially in the housing and energy sectors. “You don’t have to pay a mutual fund manager a fee to follow the herd, and you don’t have to give up 20% of your gains to a hedge fund manager, either,” he advised. “Be your own hedge fund manager. Buy stocks on your own.” 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.

Speaking at a Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association conference last week, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox indicated that the SEC will propose higher minimum investment requirements for hedge funds, Bloomberg reports. The SEC is also going to propose a new hedge fund anti-fraud rule. “We’re going to make it very clear that hedge funds are risky investments that are not for Mom and Pop by fencing it off with higher standards to accrediting investors,” Cox said. Cox also said he is “strongly supportive” of plans to combine the examination divisions of the NASD and New York Stock Exchange. 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 NASD slapped both Chase Investment Corp. and MetLife Securities with a $500,000 fine for failing to establish systems and procedures to supervise the sales of 529 college saving plans.

NEW YORK-Outsourcing isn't just for the back office anymore. As the practice of contracting out certain middle and even front-office operations becomes increasingly common among asset management companies, it's not getting any simpler, said speakers at the second annual FSO Knowledge Exchange Asset Management Industry Outsourcing Forum here last week.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating another third-party back-office service company for potential improper marketing arrangements with mutual fund clients.

Investors looking for diversification in their portfolio might want to consider equal-weight sector exchange-traded funds, which are a savvy way for investors to spread single-stock risk and provide full sector exposure to the market.

Barclays Global Investors (BGI) has signed an agreement to acquire Indexchange Investment from Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank for $307 million in cash. With $19.5 billion of assets under management, Indexchange is Germany's leading provider of exchange-traded funds. Once the Indexchange ETFs are combined with Barclays' iShares, the firm will become the leading provider of ETFs in Europe.

BISYS has made an offer to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges related to financial restatements filed Aug. 10, 2004 and April 26, 2006. If the SEC and the court overseeing this case accept the settlement, BISYS will pay $25.1 million.

The mutual fund industry is gearing up to deliver the largest tax distributions in six years and the third-largest ever. Funds will pay out an estimated $200 billion in capital gains and income to investors, up from $129 billion last year. According to Lipper estimates, fund investors will pay about $20 billion in taxes this year, up from $15.2 billion in 2005. One reason distributions are up is that it's been a good year in the stock market.

Janus CEO Black Rescinds CIO Title to Focus on Sales

LAS VEGAS-To garner better gains from their technology, companies will have to start loosing control.

The trading relationship between the buy-side and the sell-side continues to change due to more accessible liquidity, increased technology advances and shrinking commission pools to go around.

Brussels-based Fortis Investment Management announced it has taken a 70% stake in New York-based Cadagon Management, combining the two firms’ fund-of-fund operations.

Greenwich, Conn., a 30-minute train ride to Manhattan, has long been a swanky place for hedge funds to call home, and their demand for a Greenwich address is driving up office rents, according to the Stamford Advocate.Office rents in Greenwich are now as high as $80 to $90 a square foot, said Marshall Heaven, a local commercial real estate expert. That is three to four times the rent a business would pay in nearby towns of Stamford and Norwalk.