Special Program Root Tag

The Securities and Exchange Commission has decided that all companies, including smaller public ones, must comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, MarketWatch reports.

Closed-end mutual funds are facing some challenges, the biggest ones yet according to The Wall Street Journal.

J. & W. Seligman & Co. has reduces the fees on its TargetHorizon ETF Portfolios. Fund expenses will now range from 0.98% to 1.73%, while the underlying ETFs will sport fees of 0.20% to 0.26%.

The two biggest issues that the financial services industry will face in the next few years are the cost, burden and risk associated with regulatory compliance as well as increasing competition among firms, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey.

WASHINGTON--The best way to get ahead in the mutual fund business might just be to step away from it, commented Tom Kelley, author and general manager of IDEO, a design and consulting firm started in San Francisco.

Employers' efforts in recent years to boost participation in their 401(k) plans appear to be making inroads, according to Hewitt Associates' annual report on investor behavior in defined contribution plans.

WASHINGTON - Underscoring the theme of enhancing shareholder value, Investment Company Institute President Paul Schott Stevens encouraged the money management industry last week to leverage its innovative past and join efforts to enhance mutual fund disclosure and reinvent the defined contribution space for the next generation of retirees.

As the investment community applauds the two-year extension of the 15% Federal tax rate on dividends and capital gains through 2010, which President Bush signed into law via the Tax Relief Extension Act of 2005 last Wednesday, Washington-watchers say it might be a while before investors can expect any further tax breaks.

If the mainstream media were any indication, you'd think quantitative portfolio analysis would be to the mutual fund industry these days what technology stocks were in the late 1990s.

With Andrew "Buddy" Donohue taking the helm as director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's division of investment management last week, industry insiders have begun conjecturing as to what kind of leadership he will provide the mutual fund industry.

Tolle Joins Forward Mgmt. As Director of Accounting

The Securities and Exchange Commission's examination staff will hold regional seminars this spring and summer for chief compliance officers. The sessions are part of the Commission's ongoing "CCOutreach" program. Each seminar will focus on a case study that illustrates compliance issues that arise at firms of various sizes and complexity. Participants will be taught how to create an inventory of risk and mitigate it through policies and procedures. "In this year's regional seminars, fund and advisor CCOs will gain insight from the experiences of over 50 examiners as they guide discussions regarding firm operational and compliance risks," said Lori Richards, director of the office of compliance inspections and examinations. "An important part of any firm's compliance program is the identification of risks and conflicts.

UBS, having hired a team from Merrill Lynch, is planning to launch a private wealth management division to serve ultra-wealthy investors.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned this week that placing more regulation on hedge funds could make financial markets less stable. He also said he believes that hedge fund trading partners manage their risks well, Reuters reports.

Mutual fund investors focus on fees, past performance and risk when they consider whether or not to invest in a certain fund, according to a survey released yesterday by the ICI.

NASD Chairman Robert Glauber said the worst wave of law enforcement has passed for the mutual fund industry and that investor complaints have declined since the trading scandals in 2003, Reuters reports.

Although exchange-traded funds have drawn in record amounts of money, they are increasingly looking to non-traditional indexes that might excite investors more than standard ones, Kiplinger's reports.

American Century this week unveiled four lifecycle and one income fund as part of its partnership with Lance Armstrong and his Lance Armstrong Foundation, an educational and advocacy organization for people with cancer.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer met this week for the first time face-to-face to discuss a wide range of cases, including mutual fund investigations--and vowed to work more cooperatively, according to numerous reports.

Envision Financial is launching the Clarity Compliance Solution to assist fund companies to comply with the upcoming Rule 22c-2.