Special Program Root Tag

The Bank of New York has unveiled a unit that will focus on product innovation.

The cost of mutual fund ownerships continued to fall again in 2005 to the lowest levels in 25 years, the Investment Company Institute announced. The decline was driven not only by lower fees but also by investors seeking out lower-cost funds.

Phoenix Investment Partners has completed the adoption of the Turner Strategic Growth Fund, its fourth fund adoption in the past 21 months. The company has been adding funds to its roster to further strengthen its multi-manager, multi-style platform.

Fred Alger Management has reached a tentative settlement agreement with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and the Securities and Exchange Commission for allowing market timing and late trading in its mutual funds.

American Electric Power has decided to switch its 26,000-member, $2.8 billion 401(k) plan from Fidelity Investments to JPMorgan Chase to save participants $2 million in annual feeds, Columbus Business First reports. Previously, investors paid $10.5 million to Fidelity in 401(k) fees; that is expected to decline to $8.5 million in JPMorgan's 401(k).

Wall Street awaits as fund managers in the United Kingdom prepare for a deadline that will require them to disclose what portion of fees go to research, and which portion goes to trading costs, according to Dow Jones.

New Hampshire securities regulators have charged ING with improperly running its state-employee retirement plan, saying the company accepted undisclosed fees from mutual funds offered in the plan and failed to reimburse employees whose accounts were depleted by market timing. Further, the suit charges that 13 of the 18 funds in the plan that paid fees to ING underperformed their benchmarks in a five-year period.

Morgan Stanley is offering retail investors a hedge fund-of-fund that will invest in the portfolios run by its alternative investment partners team, which oversees both hedge funds and private equity.

AllianceBernstein hopes to begin selling funds to pension managers in Latin America, according to Business News Americas.

As individuals become increasingly aware of the costs of retirement, they have begun taking their futures into their own hands, according to The Boston Globe.

While financial planners see a tremendous market in the years ahead for retirement income, they believe that the complexities of planning an income strategy for each client combined with compliance issues will keep that growth at a slow pace, according to a survey by the Financial Planning Association released last Monday.

WELLESLEY, Mass. - In order to compete in a growing marketplace, mutual fund complexes have to get simple, according to Brian Moynihan, president of global wealth and investment management for Bank of America of Charlotte, N.C.

WELLESLEY, Mass. - As U.S. mutual fund companies continue to globetrot in search of growth opportunities, they are increasingly looking to service providers to help them adapt.

Amy Domini, the chairman and president of Domini Funds of New York and a widely respected pioneer of the socially responsible investment world, recently announced that four of her eight mutual funds would no longer invest according to the socially responsible equity index that bears Domini's name. Instead, in a provocative move intended to pump up the sagging performance of the funds, the funds will shift to an active investment management strategy later this year.

Citing a need for an organization to support financial advisers, accountants, insurance agents, attorneys and other professionals who serve the high-net-worth market, a group of advisers from around the nation has launched the Wealth Advisor Institute.

Vanguard next month will introduce a new share class for institutional clients, called Signal Shares. It will initially apply to 12 equity and fixed-income index funds, with fees ranging between nine and 13 basis points. Eventually, Vanguard will apply the share class to more of its funds. Signal Shares are aimed at pension plans, endowments and financial advisers. It is Vanguard's third share class for institutional investors and its fifth altogether.

Keefe, Bruyette Names Roth CEO of Asset Unit

WASHINGTON - The best new idea in mutual funds might start with a trip to the gym.

Forty-three percent of Americans are likely to struggle in retirement and fully a third could fall into poverty, according to a report from the Center for Retirement Research.

Dow Jones has launched an index that tracks the 50 largest companies in Brazil, Russia, India and China, called the Dow Jones BRIC 50 Index. It will invest in 15 companies in Brazil, India and China and five in Russia.