Special Program Root Tag

Hedge funds are attracting a glut of new money because hedge fund indexes hugely overestimate the industry's performance, a leading U.S. academic said, according to Reuters.

Edward D. Jones is broadcasting to its six million clients across the country a 33-minute video that outlines the plan for Social Security reform, but the brokerage giant stops short of publicly endorsing a specific solution.

As the debate on privatizing Social Security rages on in Washington, workers saving for retirement through their companies' 401(k) plans may have a new tool at their disposal: Roth 401(k) accounts, which companies are likely to roll out next year.

AIM Investments said Thursday that its Web site, AIMinvestments.com, was ranked among the top 10 websites for financial intermediaries, according to a study conducted by New York consulting firm kasina.

Investment bank Lazard said on Friday that it was under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the NASD in connection with gifts and gratuities it gave and received, according to Reuters.

The Independent Directors Council, an offshoot of the Investment Company Institute, will issue a report next week on how mutual fund boards should conduct annual self-reviews, Dow Jones reports. The SEC is requiring fund boards to conduct these annual checkups starting in 2006. Some in the industry have said the SEC has not provided many details on how funds should comply other than that they should look at whether they oversee too many funds and have effective committees. "What's awkward about this is that the SEC has mandated [it] but doesn't give any clear direction," commented Geoff Bobroff, an industry consultant.

BearingPoint has introduced Operational & Regulatory Response Services, a new technological service to help mutual funds and broker/dealers keep up with growing compliance needs.

A columnist at TheStreet.com says that President Bush's plan to privatize Social Security doesn't tackle the underlying problem of investor education. Directing 4% of the 12.4% of payroll checks that American workers currently pay in Social Security taxes toward private accounts will not help Americans save adequately for retirement, for studies have shown that 401(k) investors are notoriously apathetic when it comes to updating their portfolios.

Owing to controversial trading activities at its mutual fund unit, Bank of America Corp. reached an agreement with the Federal Reserve Wednesday under which the bank will keep the Fed notified of its progress in executing mutual fund-related reforms.

Value funds have beaten their growth rivals in the past four to five years, but growth funds may rebound amid stronger economic performance, low inflation, rising employment and increasing capital investments, according to Investor's Business Daily.

Investors are diversifying and how. More than two-thirds of stock and bond net inflows in 2004 were part of a structured asset allocation program, according to research firm Strategic Insight.

Fred Alger Management has turned 40, and company officials celebrated by ringing the closing bell at 4 p.m. at the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday. Fred Alger himself is 70 and, although chairman and CEO, leaves day-to-day management to Daniel C. Chung, president and chief investment officer.

For the month of January, Janus Capital Group Inc. reported total assets under management of roughly $132.7 billion, a 4.5% decline from December's $139 billion in assets. Firmwide average assets under management for January took a 2.8% dip to approximately $133.6 billion from the prior month's average assets of $137.5 billion. Average assets in January, excluding money markets, totaled $124 billion.

The Arbitrage Fund, a four-star Morningstar-rated mutual fund that invests in merger arbitrage situations , has reopened to the public amid a flurry of merger deals hitting the market.

Bank of America will pay $515 million in fines and reduce fees by $160 million to settle a pair of market-timing cases, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday.

A former Citigroup executive who oversaw its mutual fund unit is fighting Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that he acted improperly.

Retirement specialists say that the Bush Administration is planning several changes to strengthen the 401(k) system for workers looking to save for retirement, according to Defined Contribution News.

As the SEC nears a $675 million market-timing settlement with Bank of America, possibly this week, federal regulators are expected to charge two former executives at Columbia Management, the mutual fund arm of BoA, with permitting preferred customers to engage in abusive trading practices, the Boston Globe reports.

Owing to an indemnity letter it provided to its U.S. broker, London-based hedge fund manager Headstart Asset Management may have to pay up for losses caused to U.S. mutual fund shareholders resulting from nearly $2 billion of market timing trades, according to Financial News.

Canada's mutual fund self-regulatory body, the Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA), is investigating if sales agents at certain firms, including Manulife Securities International Ltd. and the Berkshire Group of Companies, sent clients to Portus Alternative Asset Management Inc., a hedge fund under scrutiny by Canadian regulators, according to The Globe and Mail.