Special Program Root Tag

Dow Jones reports that hedge fund managers are looking to snatch up mortgage portfolios in New Orleans. This is in anticipation of a resurgence in property values aided by federal grants to the hurricane-stricken region.

Charles Schwab has discontinued account service fees in an effort to move back to the stock brokerage's low-cost tradition, reports the Associated Press.

XTF Advisors, a firm focused exclusively on providing exchange-traded fund products and services, was launched at 2005 World ETF Summit in New York.

Credit Suisse Asset Management (CSAM) has lowered its total expenses on Credit Suisse Institutional Money Market Fund Portfolio's Class A shares to 10 basis points. CSAM hopes that this move will result in higher yields for the fund's investors, officials said.

Hedge fund managers that plan to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission should first make sure that they fit the new regulatory demands, or risk public humiliation, says SEI Investments.

At a press briefing in midtown Manhattan yesterday, Richard Driehaus, chairman and CIO of Driehaus Capital Management, strongly endorsed the alternative energy sector, an opinion that runs counter to some other leading industry authorities.

Just like oil prices, other energy stocks and the funds that invest in them are on a meteoric rise. The Vanguard Energy Fund, for example, has witnessed its share price rise more than 50% in the past year, as of July 31, according to officials at the Valley Forge, Pa., fund complex. As a result, Vanguard took the unusual step off issuing an investor warning at its Web site.

Standard & Poor's looks favorably on mutual fund distributor T. Rowe Price Group, according to a report from BusinessWeek online. S&P is impressed by its strong competitive advantage, in addition to its robust net customer inflows, cautious expense growth and equity market appreciation.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the proposed plan for the distribution of money to shareholders in its case against Putnam Investment Management.

A former chairman at the Securities and Exchange Commission is trying his hand at the hedge fund business, according to a report in yesterday's New York Times.

As part of its relief package, Congress introduced yesterday a bill that would permit Hurricane Katrina victims to make hardship cash withdrawals or loans from their 401(k)-type plans, even if the provision doesn't currently exist in their plan.

With the nation's attention now focused on rebuilding New Orleans and other Gulf Coast cities devastated by Hurricane Katrina, common sense would say that a pair of key mutual fund industry issues that were front-burner topics before Congress broke for the summer won't get much attention now that lawmakers are back to work.

Large-cap and mid-cap value strategies outpaced separately managed accounts during the first quarter of 2005, according to newly released data from the Money Management Institute, Financial Research Corp. and Dover Financial Research.

Fidelity Investments has launched a pair of variable annuity products that the Boston-based fund giant characterizes as affordable and easy to understand.

Many U.S. mutual fund managers are already bristling over the new Securities and Exchange Commission rule that demands that they disclose whether they invest in the funds they manage, so it's probably safe to assume that they're none too pleased that their European peers aren't subject to the same scrutiny.

Three key employees have purchased ownership of Winslow Management Co. from Adams Harkness, an investment-banking firm, for an undisclosed sum.

Putnam Investments, PanAgora Asset Management and Integra Capital Management Corp. have united on a joint venture known as Putnam PanAgora Integra Canada (PPI Canada).

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, in a repeat of his 2004 rule, plans to force some mutual fund firms to cut fees to obtain compensation for alleged past overcharging, according BusinessWeek.

A new job index from Diversified Management Resources, a Boston-based human resources consulting firm, shows that total count of mutual fund industry job postings online was flat for the month of August.

U.S. market regulators scored a victory when a court dismissed a lawsuit that tried to challenge the Securities and Exchange Commission over its stance on the pricing of mutual fund shares, according to a recent report from Reuters.