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MFS Investment Management Chairman Robert Pozen detailed his "progressive indexing" proposal before the Senate Finance Committee in Washington on Tuesday, claiming it could close the long-term deficit dilemma confronting Social Security by more than 70%.

Money management firm Nuveen Investments is reporting record first-quarter earnings, which were helped by a sharp rise in assets under management and investment advisory fees.

Citigroup's Japanese trust bank, which will be shuttered because of a private-banking scandal last year, has been ordered to stop accepting new business after regulators found it had obstructed inspections and engaged in improper deals, according to Reuters.

Mutual fund adviser Schroder Investment Management will manage a new mutual fund starting in July as part of the Schroder Series Trust, according to a prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Dow Jones reports.

On the heels of yet another study warning against private accounts, a Senate panel will begin hearing expert ideas this morning on how to improve the long-term solvency of Social Security.

Theodore Sihpol III, the former Bank of America broker who faces up to 30 years behind bars for violation of federal securities law, is expected to pull a few punches as his trial begins today. Not least of which is taking a swipe at New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the New York Post reports.

Reverberations from the mutual fund scandal continue, as the Securities and Exchange Commission last Thursday announced yet more market-timing and late-trading charges.

The BISYS Group of New York revealed a few more sketchy details last week about the continuing Securities and Exchange Commission investigation it is embroiled in over fees it paid for distribution, marketing and certain other expenses on behalf of its mutual fund clients.

NASD EVP Elisse B. Walter has a few words for mutual fund industry professionals who believe that the current regulatory atmosphere will soon pass and the good old days of lessened scrutiny will return.

Fidelity Investments' National Financial Unit plans to offer a unified managed account (UMA) this fall to its correspondent broker/dealers, sister publication Securities Industry News reports. The move comes at a time when financial advisers are having a hard time managing the growing number of investment products on the market.

American Express Financial Advisors has filed suit in U.S. District Court in New Hampshire asserting that federal law preempts that state's securities regulators from pressing fraud charges against its brokers, The Wall Street Journal reported last week.

McMahon Chosen to Lead AXA Strategic Initiatives

State Street Corp.'s first-quarter earnings rose 4%, helped by an increase in new customers, beating analysts' expectations of lower earnings due to high costs, volatile markets and climbing interest rates.

As the debate whether mutual funds should charge performance-based fees continues, Don Cassidy, a senior research analyst at Lipper, New York, says the main reason such fees have not caught on is that more funds underperform than overperform benchmark indexes.

The New York Stock Exchange and the Archipelago Exchange announced last Wednesday that they have entered a merger agreement that will lead to the combined entity, NYSE Group, Inc., which would become the world's biggest stock exchange, valued at $4.7 billion; NYSE is worth $3.3 billion.

Vanguard is expected to announce shortly that starting May 10, it will slash fees on 63 of its funds, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Bank of New York said Friday that it has signed a definitive agreement to buy Lynch, Jones & Ryan Inc., a commission-recapture services subsidiary, from Instinet Group Inc.

The BISYS Group of New York revealed a few more sketchy details last week about the continuing Securities and Exchange Commission investigation it is embroiled in over fees it paid for distribution, marketing and certain other expenses on behalf of its mutual fund clients.

Shifting Focus on Retirements and Focus Shifts

The New York Stock Exchange and the Archipelago Exchange announced Wednesday that they have entered a merger agreement that will lead to the combined entity, NYSE Group, Inc., which will be a for-profit, publicly-held company.