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Once the gold standard for fund governance, TIAA-CREF no longer deserves its designation as the industry's shareholder-friendliest firm, according to Christopher Davis, an analyst with Morningstar in Chicago.

The SEC has served subpoenas to a number of financial journalists, claiming that short sellers conspired with research firms and business journalists to drive down the prices of stocks, according to Buyins.net - a company that helps shareholders fight naked short selling.

The fact that a record number of hedge funds were both launched and liquidated in 2005 signifies that the industry is still afloat and increasingly competitive, said Hedge Fund Research, according to Marketwatch.com.

Investors are beginning to wonder whether American Funds' vigorous performance can continue, according to The Ledger-Star.

The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission has plans to propose rules that would require that e-mails at investment advisory firms be retained for a specified period of time and be made available in certain formats, according to The Toronto Star. The SEC would also require firms to allow it access to any e-mail communications, including internal communications.

Just as lifecycle funds change with time to conform to investors' needs, Fidelity is changing the mix of its 10-year old Freedom Funds to respond to market demands.

After surging 20% in 2004, net new flows into 529s remained flat in 2005, The Wall Street Journal reports. State-sponsored 529 plans took in 13.72 billion in 2004 and $13.69 billion last year.

Touchstone Investments announced that its assets under management increased 40% in 2005 to $4.25 billion and the number of financial professionals using its funds in their clients' portfolios also rose during the year, by 53% to more than 13,600. According to Strategic Insight, Touchstone was the 10th fastest growing fund company in 2005.

At least 42 portfolio managers at Vanguard Group do not have a personal stake in at least one of the funds they manage, an analysis of fund prospectuses by Dan Weiner, editor of the Independent Advisor for Vanguard Investors, shows.

Compliance costs have nearly doubled in the past three years, according to a report from the Securities Industry Association. As a result, the SIA is calling for the elimination of regulatory duplication between the NASD and the New York Stock Exchange.

Fidelity Brokerage Co. and JPMorgan reached an agreement whereby JPMorgan's initial public offerings, secondary share sales and certain municipal bond offerings will be available to Fidelity's retail and institutional clients. These include 10.7 million retail accounts, 3,000 registered investment advisors and 65,000 individual brokers served through more than 350 broker/dealer firms.

A recent decision by the Clipper Fund to switch management firms - from its sibling firm Pacific Financial Research to Davis Selected Advisors - might be a defining moment for the mutual fund industry, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Now that Baby Boomers are starting to retire, it's going to be easier to predict which mutual funds might be the hottest, according to Reuters.

With account minimums of as little as $25,000 and their availability now even through stodgy banks, hedge funds and hedge funds-of-funds are increasingly finding their way into ordinary investors' portfolios, MarketWatch reports.

Although the increasing value of Janus Capital Group's stock is good news for its market capitalization, now at $4.8 billion, and a sign that investors believe the company is improving its performance, the stock's 50% run-up since October has had at least one negative drawback, The Wall Street Journal reports.

As investment management firms increasingly look to separate the money management and distribution sides of their business, divestiture-driven mergers and acquisitions among such companies could hit a record high this year, Putnam Lovell NBF predicts, in a new report called "Shake, Rattle and Roll: Tectonic Realignment."

Citing the strength of subscriptions by financial advisers to its Morningstar Advisor Workstation and sales of its stock research to investment banks, Morningstar has reported fourth-quarter profits of $10.1 million, compared with a loss of $1.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2004. Morningstar's investment consulting services for funds-of-funds also contributed to this growth.

Domestic equity funds are increasingly turning to overseas markets for their holdings, due to their strong returns, with more than 100 funds now holding 20% or more of their portfolios in overseas stocks, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Because of a rebound in its two major stock markets and its strong economy, China is capturing the interest of international fund managers for the first time in more than two years, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The equities markets showed signs life in January and individual investors responded enthusiastically.