Special Program Root Tag

Canadian mutual funds may not be out of the woods just yet.

Employee compensation and benefits consultant Clark has been subpoenaed by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in connection with potential conflicts of interest from contingent commissions. Clark said it is fully cooperating with the inquiry. In 2004, contingent commissions made up $11.3 million of Clark's $315.6 million total revenue, according to Clark vice president Jim Radosevich. He said the company, which has not been accused of any wrongdoing, does not intend to stop accepting these commissions.

The Money Management Institute announced that its 2005 Pioneer Award recipients are Charles Widger of Brinker Capital, Lawrence Sinsimer of Eaton Vance and James Seuffert of Bank of New York. The awards will be handed out at the Institute's annual convention Wednesday in Philadelphia.

PALM DESERT, Calif. - Dov Seidman, chairman and CEO of the Los Angeles-based corporate governance and ethics consulting company LRN, calls the recent resignation of Boeing CEO Harry Stonecipher nothing short of remarkable.

As startling as it may sound, many leading economists now consider the federal deficit a greater risk to the economy than terrorism.

Discount broker Charles Schwab has been ordered by the New York Stock Exchange to compensate a former employee for "emotional distress" caused by the firm's handling of her computer.

David K. Donovan, Jr., one of Fidelity Investment's star traders who left the company last week, said on Thursday that regulators had begun investigating whether trading in his mother's account involved preferential treatment, according to the Boston Globe.

The companies that manage and distribute American Funds sued California's attorney general on Thursday, claiming he does not have the jurisdiction to regulate the disclosure of deals with brokers who market its products, Reuters reports.

Money Management Executive and Source Media are accepting nominations for the third annual Fund Operations Awards.

Socially responsible asset manager Pax World Funds has dumped its $23.4 million worth of Starbucks stock because of a deal the Seattle-based coffee retailer has entered into with spirits maker Jim Beam.

As part of a streamlining move, AIM Investments will close down eight of its most poorly performing mutual funds and merge them into other products.

The Vanguard Group will close its $22.5 billion Vanguard Health Care Fund, according to a March 24 report from MarketWatch. The Valley Forge, Pa.-based company said the fund would be open only to existing shareholders and retirement plans.

The trading desk at Fidelity Investments witnessed yet another departure this week when David K. Donovan Jr., who headed the group that trades technology stocks, left the company on Tuesday, according to the Boston Globe.

Expanding on its "New School of Investing" theme, iShares is launching an ad campaign entitled "New You." The campaign reaches advisers through television, print and online ads, as well as direct marketing, sales materials and a revamped Web site.

More and more retirement plan providers are including a variation of lifecycle funds in 401(k) retirement plans, according to Dow Jones. These so-called custom-designed mutual funds are targeted to an employee's expected retirement date and gradually shift to more conservative asset allocations when that date approaches. But in the latest iteration, 401(k) plan sponsors are using their existing fund lineup for plan administrators to fashion into lifecycle funds-of-funds.

Capital Analysts Inc., a Radnor, Pa.-based brokerage firm agreed to pay $450,000 on Wednesday to settle charges brought against it by the Securities and Exchange Commission for not adequately disclosing that it received payments from certain mutual fund companies for promoting their funds.

Some of the biggest mutual fund companies in the country disclosed personal information about their shareholders on the Securities and Exchange Commission Web site, the Wall Street Journal discovered.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has reached a $20 million settlement with broker/dealer CitiGroup Global Markets due to the firm failing to provide customers with adequate investment information and for not disclosing revenue-sharing agreements with mutual fund complexes.

Putnam Investment Management is in hot water with the Securities and Exchange Commission again, this time paying a $40 million fine because of revenue-sharing arrangements.

Money Management Executive and Source Media are accepting nominations for the third annual Fund Operations Awards. (Details: http://mfmarketnews.com/awards2005.cfm/.)