Special Program Root Tag

They are built like mutual funds, but act like hedge funds, and few investors seem to know what to make of them. That may change next month, when Morningstar launches a new rankings list to help investors better track hedge-like mutual funds. Industry insiders say the new list might help such funds gain market traction. Indices that track traditional mutual funds do not work well for those that mimic hedge funds. More than regular mutual funds, hedge-like mutual funds aim to return money regardless of what happens in the stock market overall. But in the name of making some money, hedge-like mutual funds sometimes miss out on big market upswings in order to avoid major drops. They are also more expensive to operate, difficult to explain and therefore tough to sell. But this might change once investors are given a reliable measuring stick.

Janus Capital has launched a new mutual fund that utilizes hedge fund trading tactics. Called the Janus Adviser Long/Short Fund, it is the first of its sort for the asset manager, which continues to redefine itself after the losses it suffered in the tech crash and scandal. Earlier this month, for example, Janus shareholders voted to add performance-based fees to some of its stock and bond funds, another move that, at least coincidentally, is very hedge fund-like.

Ivy Shuffles Executives

It's a buyer's market in the world of mutual funds, and those that do not adapt die, or at least fail to attract investors, according to a research report assessing competition by the Investment Company Institute.

In order to save for retirement, Americans must start the year off with a retirement savings plan that they can stick to for the entire year, according to Allstate Financial's fifth annual "Retirement Reality Check" survey, which measures Americans' outlook on saving for retirement, and sets forth ways they can achieve their retirement goals.

Judge Richard Matsch has ordered Jon E. Hankins of Tenet Asset Management - a Knoxville, Tenn.-based money manager - to pay $1 million to the Evergreen-based Cascade Fund, according to The Denver Post.

After a 10-year tenure that included a number of investigations in precedent-setting areas, NASD enforcement chief Barry R. Goldsmith will leave the brokerage industry regulator in mid-March for a job in the private sector.

ETFs have really made headway into the financial markets, as they track U.S. equity indexes, but, a recent report by The Wall Street Journal states that experts in the industry say the bigger focus in 2006 will be starting nontraditional, specialty products that will track fixed income, currencies and commodities, and some that will inverse the index they track.

JB Oxford Holdings Inc. has had a history of scandal and now its trade processing unit has agreed to pay $2.1 million over allegations of abusive mutual fund trading.

Although its asset management division is still king, the brokerage unit of Fidelity Investments outgrew its money manager peer in 2005 by about 14%, the Boston-based fund giant indicated in an earnings report.

James Hawkes, the 64-year-old chief executive officer and chairman of Eaton Vance, will comply with the firm's mandatory retirement policy and step down from his position as of Oct. 31, 2007. Thomas Faust, Jr., who has been with the firm for 21 years, will succeed him, and in anticipation of that move, the company has named him president.

Nuveen Investments reported net income in 2005 of $171.2 million, a 9% increase over the prior year. Fourth-quarter net income, however, remained flat from the earlier period, at $43.5 million.

Charles Schwab has announced that for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2005, the company's net income was $187 million, which is impressive when compared to the $53 million for the fourth quarter of 2004. For the year ended Dec. 31, the company's net income was a whopping $725 million, compared with the net income of $286 million in 2004.

A three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has unanimously decided to dismiss the securities suit brought forth by investors in a mutual fund that lost $900 million by waiting to sell its holdings in Enron until two days prior to the firm's bankruptcy, according to Law.com.

Janus Capital Group has launched a new mutual fund that utilizes hedge fund trading tactics, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

They are built like mutual funds, but act like hedge funds, and few investors seem to know what to make of them. That may change next month, when Chicago-based Morningstar launches a new rankings list, to help investors better track hedge-like mutual funds, according to the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader.

Although hedge fund returns have declined in the past 10 years, their annual fees have steadily climbed, Bloomberg reports. Today, the average hedge fund charges annual fees of 1.44% of assets, a 13% increase from 1.27% five years ago. And that doesn't include the 19.2% that hedge funds skim off performance returns.

Rebranding might be the next hot mutual fund trend, Gregg Wolper of Morningstar writes. Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley are in the process of determining new names for their mutual fund families, while Schwab recently rechristened its funds Laudus and Gabelli renamed eight of its funds GAMCO.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's proposal to increase disclosure of executive compensation is currently under approval with Federal regulators, but some worry that the new rule may not affect or change how much CEOs are earning.

Canary Capital Partners and its former managing principal, Edward Stern, reached a $10 million settlement with New Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey, the attorney general's office announced Tuesday. The fine is being imposed for market timing and late trading mutual funds and the mutual fund sub-accounts of variable annuities to the detriment of long-term shareholders.