Special Program Root Tag

October provided another opportunity for the seemingly unstoppable American Funds to top researchers’ monthly lists tracking net new inflows into large mutual fund providers, Reuters reports.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are at loggerheads over the growing debate surrounding new regulations requiring mutual fund boards to name independent directors and chairmen.

Closed-end funds are facing unexpected levels of competition from the fast-growing exchange-traded fund industry, not to mention the growing likelihood of an actively managed ETF appearing within the next few years, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Bill Miller, the venerable captain of the $14.8 billion Legg Mason Value Trust fund, has conceded defeat in his 13-year quest to outperform the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, CBSMarketWatch reports.

Citigroup continues to lead the pack in insurance fee income among banks, according to the most recent results from Michael White Associates. The firm logged $1.2 billion in fee income in the first three quarters of 2003, up 18.53% over 2003.

The NASD has come down on 29 broker/dealers for more than 8,000 instances when those firms failed to disclose reportable information about brokers to customers. The firms have neither admitted to nor denied allegations, but consented to the entry of the findings. Reportable information includes customer complaints, regulatory actions, criminal charges and convictions.

T Rowe Price is taking steps to crack down market timing within retirement plans by penalizing retirement plan investors for quickly selling their newly purchased mutual fund shares, Dow Jones Newswires reports.

Value fund managers who have once again fallen out of favor are now accumulating conspicuous amounts of cash in their portfolios, TheStreet.com reports.

Bill Miller, the venerable captain of the $14.8 billion Legg Mason Value Trust fund, has conceded defeat in his 13-year quest to outperform the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, CBSMarketWatch reports.

Citigroup continues to lead the pack in insurance fee income among banks, according to the most recent results from Michael White Associates. The firm logged $1.2 billion in fee income in the first three quarters of 2003, up 18.53% over 2003.

The NASD has come down on 29 broker/dealers for more than 8,000 instances when those firms failed to disclose reportable information about brokers to customers. The firms have neither admitted to nor denied allegations, but consented to the entry of the findings. Reportable information includes customer complaints, regulatory actions, criminal charges and convictions.

T Rowe Price is taking steps to crack down market timing within retirement plans by penalizing retirement plan investors for quickly selling their newly purchased mutual fund shares, Dow Jones Newswires reports.

Value fund managers who have once again fallen out of favor are now accumulating conspicuous amounts of cash in their portfolios, TheStreet.com reports.

NASD announced Monday that James B. Moorehead, a former broker for AmSouth Investment Services Inc., has been barred from the securities industry for life for alleged fraud, forgery, and falsification of documents in connection with variable annuity sales.

Mutual fund manager AIM Investments announced Tuesday it has reshuffled the portfolio management team and investment styles on three of its growth funds in an effort to boost their sagging performance.

Mutual funds specializing in mergers and acquisitions are soaring on a windfall of recent corporate takeovers and buyouts amounting to more than $6 billion of transactions between the beginning of this year and Nov. 9, BusinessWeek Online reports.

U.S. stock mutual funds’ inflows slowed to $7.17 billion in October after gaining $10.22 billion in September, but world bond fund inflows remained stable during the same period, Dow Jones Newswires reports.

Barclays Global Investors, the leading exchange-traded fund provider, is set to rebalance three ETFs to keep the investments in line with modifications planned for three Dow Jones Indexes, CBSMarketWatch reports.

The retail mutual fund market in Germany is poised for a spirited comeback over the next five years, with asset growth likely to be a shade under 8% per year on cautious estimates, Financial Times reports.

Erick Kanter, founder and president of Kanter & Associates and for more than a decade a public relations executive with the Investment Company Institute, died Nov. 23 of a brain aneurysm. His passing away at age 62 was sudden and unexpected, his firm said Monday.