Special Program Root Tag

Nearly one year ago, on Jan. 14, 2004, JPMorgan Chase and Bank One announced plans to merge the two banking companies. Although the merger was officially finalized on July 1, the two entities are still in the process of melding operations, including both mutual fund families, and transitioning Bank One's private client services division catering to wealthy individuals into the JPMorgan fold. Up until the merger, JPMorgan only catered to the mega-wealthy market through its private banking unit.

More mutual fund groups are launching asset-allocation funds with greater overseas diversification. However, unlike global funds that purchase foreign stocks worldwide, the new generation of products are funds-of-funds.

The Investment Company Institute will lobby for tax reductions on capital gains distributions in 2005.

Mutual fund company Franklin Resources said on Thursday it has raised its quarterly cash dividend to 10 cents a share, Reuters reports.

Fidelity Investments said late Thursday that it disciplined 14 stock traders and that two others have left the company amid an ongoing investigation into whether they accepted excessive gifts from brokers to whom they directed business.

Seven Canadian financial services firms will pay nearly $163 million (C$200) to settle charges that they permitted preferred customers to engage in rapid short-term trading in their funds at the expense of long-term shareholders, Reuters reports.

The Investment Company Institute will lobby for tax reductions on capital gains distributions in 2005.

First Command Financial Services, a leading seller of financial products to military personnel, agreed Wednesday to pay $12 million to settle allegations that it used shady sales practices to pitch mutual funds to thousands of enlisted men and women over the last five years.

PlusFunds Group Inc., a New York hedge fund manager, said Wednesday that Gabriel Bousbib, its president and chief executive officer, has resigned to pursue other interests. Bousbib is to advise the board of directors until Feb. 28 to help ease the transition to a successor who is to be announced shortly.

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer this week served Morningstar Associates with a subpoena for documents related to the mutual fund research firm’s consulting services for retirement plan providers, CBS MarktWatch reports.

The president of the Investment Company Institute called on the Securities and Exchange Commission to rearm itself next year with tough-minded regulatory agendas aimed at policing the mutual fund industry.

The nation’s largest pension fund, formally known as the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, threw its weight behind a growing chorus of critics who oppose President Bush’s plans to privatize the American Social Security system, CBS MarketWatch reports.

Cohen & Steers Inc. extended its reach into European markets this week by closing a deal to acquire 50% of Houlihan Rovers SA, a Belgium-based fund manager, Reuters reports.

Despite relentlessly turbulent market conditions, an overwhelming majority of institutional investors polled by a recent Merrill Lynch survey predicted global equities to outperform bonds next year, Reuters reports.

Gifts and perks once believed to be harmless tokens of appreciation have moved into regulators’ crosshairs, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Lenticular advertising campaigns may become more common among insurance and financial services companies. The technology, which in a more primitive form has been a common Cracker Jack prize, allows companies to show images that shift depending on the viewer’s angle. Nationwide Financial, for example, recently started using lenticular advertisements for its "Life Comes at You Fast" campaign.

The Investment Company Institute announced Tuesday that Brian Reid has been promoted to chief economist. Reid succeeds John Rea, who is retiring at the end of the year after 10 years of service.

The fast-growing exchange-traded fund industry netted $3.6 billion of inflows during a one-week period in late November, marking the industry’s third-highest weekly draw, CBS MarketWatch reports.

Franklin Templeton is the fifth mutual fund company to come under the watchful eye of the Ontario Securities Commission, Canadian Press reports. And if found guilty of market timing, Franklin and the four other fund companies are not going to come off lightly, as the OSC is expected to levy record fines.

Regulators’ widespread probe into the $7.6 trillion mutual fund industry is likely to continue throughout 2005 and possibly into the following year through new chapters investigating questionable relationships with brokerage firms, InvestmentNews reports.