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Maryland-based Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc. has agreed to pay a reported $1 million to settle charges brought against it by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraudulently processing mutual fund orders after trading hours.

Morningstar does not recommend Federated International Equity, a $36.86 million foreign large growth fund, because of a recent manager change. Uri Landesman, the fund's manager and the director of research, has left the company for unknown reasons.

Elliot Associates, a hedge fund, began a proxy contest this Tuesday against fund managers at the Salomon Brothers Fund. Gramercy Investment Advisors, one of the investors in the fund, fully supports the move because, Gramercy says, Salomon has not been working strategically to increase share prices.

Mellon Financial Corporation, announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to form a joint venture with WestLB AG to establish an asset management business.

Goldman Sachs Group reported an 87% increase in earnings, the largest quarterly profit in the firm's history, according to MarketWatch.com. Goldman CFO David Viniar attributed his firm's record performance a result of "strength across virtually all of our business."

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently filed an enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that Linuxor Asset Management and Abbas Shah, the firm's principal, defrauded hedge fund participants in the Linuxor Global Macro Fund. Shah both managed the fund and was its trading adviser.

Wealthy Investors that can afford to invest in hedge funds, private equity and venture capital have turned to mutual funds instead, Dow Jones reports.

Rydex Investments announced the launch of two new mutual funds recently, the Rydex Hedged Equity fund and the Rydex Absolute Return Strategies Fund, that seek to offer hedge fund-like strategies and returns.

Investing in commercial real estate is a way many hedge fund managers are looking to bolster returns at a time when there are fewer opportunities in the stock market, Associated Press reports.

As expected, Martin Druffner, a former broker with Prudential Securities, pled guilty Monday to four counts of wire fraud and four counts of securities fraud for illicit market timing. He now faces up to 20 years in jail, to be determined in a Dec. 12 sentencing hearing.

Fund companies that owe investors in the Gulf region financial documents but cannot reach them due to the ravages of Hurricane Katrina have gotten a reprieve from the Securities and Exchange Commission, Denver Post reports.

To try and lure investors from rivals, Fidelity U.K. has cut the management fee on its flagship equity index fund to 10 basis points, about one-tenth of what other fund companies in the U.K. charge, Fidelity told Reuters.

Setting redemption fees in compliance with the SEC's new Rule 22c-2 is going to cost the mutual fund industry $617.5 million over the next three years, a new report from TowerGroup shows.

High-profile tort attorneys, most notably those who won huge lawsuits against tobacco firms, are preparing a series of class-action suits against mutual fund companies, charging them with violating their fiduciary duties through excessive fees, FundDirections reports.

Hurricane Katrina, although catastrophic and deadly, has brought about many investment opportunities in the past few weeks, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald.

Hurricane Katrina, although catastrophic and deadly, has brought about many investment opportunities in the past few weeks, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald.

Actively managed exchange-traded funds that seek to continue to give similar benefits as a traditional ETF are in the works, according to Dow Jones.

Low yields, a spotty corporate market and long-term fixed income outpacing short-term have in the facing of rising interest rates have all contributed to a difficult environment for bond fund managers.

According to new research from TowerGroup, hedge fund assets will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 15% between 2005 and 2008, resulting in overall growth of 75% in hedge fund assets in that time.

A divisive rule that would apply stronger government oversight over hedge funds is to be put into effect by the new chairman of the SEC Christopher Cox, according to The Wall Street Journal.