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Investors who believe they are getting a comprehensive financial plan from their advisers may not be receiving all the advice that they need, according to a recent study published by Key Financial, a certified financial planning firm in West Chester, Pa. As a result, Key is calling for a uniform code for financial planning.

Accounting that allows for settlement of mutual fund trades one day past the trade, or T+1, uses stale portfolio valuations, leading to variations between funds' reported net asset values (NAVs) and their true worth, a new study warns investors.

In his 2007 budget proposal, President George Bush is looking to expand tax-free savings opportunities for investors in Coverdell education savings accounts and 529 college savings plans and at the same time permanently increase the amount workers can save in tax-qualified plans.

In the wake of recent regulatory challenges in the mutual fund industry, the very relationship between fund companies and their transfer agents has begun to change. Transfer agents today have expanded their role to reflect the growing need in the industry for thought leadership and consultative servicing. While technology and shareholder servicing remain at the cornerstone of the transfer agency offering, fund companies should expect this added value from their transfer agents to complement their focus on regulatory requirements and changing markets.

The NASD's Investor Education Foundation is launching a $6.8 million campaign to supply members of the military with education and tools about investing, as a way of warding off unscrupulous investment firms that have been selling overpriced, risky and inappropriate products to members of the armed forces.

Two leading think tanks, the Heritage Foundation and the Retirement Security Project, have proposed payroll-funded IRAs as a way of meeting the retirement needs of the 71 million American workers who don't have the option of investing in a 401(k) plan. That's nearly half of the 153 million workers in America.

Fidelity's flagship Magellan fund, long known for investing in high-profile, large-cap American stocks, has moved 20% of its $51 billion under management to stocks overseas, up from only 4% of its assets in non-U.S. stocks as of the end of last year, Financial Times reports.

After two years of development, Brinker Capital has launched a unified managed account combines managed accounts, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and alternative investments on a single platform through a choice of 20 different strategies that Brinker is offering.

Fidelity Investments announced Thursday that assets and the number of its Advisor 401(k) plans, designed for small- and mid-sized employers, increased in 2005. Assets increased 16% over the year before, to $13.5 billion, while the number of new plans Fidelity signed up rose 44%, to 380, bringing the total number of plans using Fidelity's Advisor 401(k) services to 2,176.

Just as the spotlight was taken off of the debacled Refco, it now appears there is talk about whether the brokerage firm's largest remaining unit should be shut down, according The Wall Street Journal.

Ameriprise Financial's largest mutual fund, the $8.5 billion RiverSource New Dimensions Fund, suffered withdrawals of $5.9 billion last year, and so the firm has decided to merge the fund with a smaller and younger fund, the RiverSource Large-Cap Equity Fund, to end withdrawals and improve performance, according to St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Because many individuals have had trouble accessing their 401(k) assets upon leaving their employer, the U.S. Department of Labor has decided to step in. The employee advocate is about to propose new rules that could make this process much easier and at the same time much quicker, according to The Wall Street Journal.

With higher education costs on the rise, individuals have made progress in understanding the importance of college savings. However, many 529 college saving plan participants have yet to paint the town red over their returns, according to The Boston Globe.

Talk of the $8 billion deal between BlackRock and Merrill Lynch is only the latest, if not the largest, example of Wall Street firms shedding asset management arms in order to avoid potential conflicts of interest, and broaden distribution channels.

Four fund advisors have awarded mutual fund service management contracts to BISYS, the company announced.

In a speech at the National Press Club in Washington yesterday, Investment Company Institute President Paul Schott Stevens suggested that mutual fund companies should leverage the Internet to help alleviate burdensome new disclosure requirements.

The Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund gave $846 million in grants last year, setting a new record and signaling a strengthening market. The fund also received 21% more in donations last year, compared to 2004.

The National Association of Securities Dealers has ordered that Credit Suisse Group pay a retired couple $1.2 million for placing their retirement assets in risky investments, Reuters reports.

Standard & Poor's has released its latest mutual fund scorecard, measuring the consistency of top mutual fund performers over three and five consecutive years. It also measures performance and persistence.

Arizona is among the states with the worst 529 college savings plan, according to the most recent Morningstar rating, but the plan's director thinks it wasn't accurately evaluated.