Special Program Root Tag

Alliance CEO Sanders Takes on Chairman Title

As if it wasn't already hard enough for mutual fund companies to attract 401(k) rollovers, investors are increasingly taking this money and putting it in annuities within IRA plans. In fact, these types of rollovers have increased 400% over the last four years.

NEW YORK - In conjunction with the launch of its new CFA Centre for Financial Market Integrity, on Nov. 8 the CFA Institute of Charlottesville, Va., floated an exposure draft of its new Asset Manager Code of Professional Conduct.

The NASD Mutual Fund Task Force made its recommendations on soft dollars and disclosing portfolio transaction costs to the SEC last Wednesday.

State Street Global Advisors’ newly launched StreetTracks Gold Trust exchange-traded mutual fund attracted $550 million of assets hours after making its debut Thursday morning on The New York Stock Exchange, CBSMarketWatch reports.

TIAA-CREF broadened its portfolio of lifestyle funds this week with several new investments that automatically reallocate their portfolio assets to coincide with retirement plan participants’ projected retirement dates.

A controversial decision in a Maryland court backing some closed-end mutual fund managers’ tactics aimed at thwarting shareholder takeovers has raised doubts about the future of closed-end funds, InvestmentNews reports.

A new study reveals foreign bond funds have outperformed other international funds by not using currency hedging strategies, The Wall Street Journal reports. Ever since the dollar began to weaken in 2002, a number of international funds have tried such a hedging strategy. The revelation comes as a blow to some investors who have pursued international bond funds offering the security of currency hedging provisions.

Contrary to recent reports by investor advocates, mutual fund trading patterns, or turnover rates, have remained largely unchanged for the past 20 years, according to a new study released by the Investment Company Institute.

Mutual fund investors are unwittingly paying more than $17.3 billion of undisclosed mutual fund costs per year, according to a new study released this week by Zero Alpha Group, a national investment advisory group. Trading costs proved to be a major factor in inflating hidden fund expenses that are undetectable to many investors.

Hedge funds-of-funds took in $26.4 billion in the first nine months of the year, nearly half of the net new flows into all types of hedge funds, Bloomberg reports. The business of overseeing hedge fund assets managed by other individuals now accounts for nearly 40% of the $890 billion global hedge fund business, a 33% increase from 2002, according to Hedge Fund Research.

Putnam Investments CEO Ed Haldeman said this week that he hopes the current wave of layoffs at the company will lead to a leaner environment that is more likely to attract new assets, but analysts believe the measures are precursors for an eminent sale, sister publication American Banker reports.

Franklin Templeton Investments settled with California this week for failing to disclose its shelf-space arrangements with brokers. The fund company agreed to pay $18 million, $14 million of which will be refunded to investors, said California Attorney General Bill Lockyer. Another $2 million is for a civil penalty and $2 million is to reimburse Lockyer’s office for the investigation.

The lengthy surge in small-cap stock performance has delighted investors during an otherwise bleak market environment, but some Wall Street experts now say the rally is nearly exhausted, Dow Jones Newswires reports.

A new study by PricewaterhouseCoopers identifies oversight of third-party service providers as the latest challenge for mutual fund company boards.

Morningstar Analyst Curt Morrison, in a recent column, called the Standard & Poor’s 500 index a poor investment loaded with overpriced stocks largely poised for modest growth.

The SEC has reached a settlement agreement with Harold J. Baxter and Gary L. Pilgrim for fraud charges surrounding undisclosed market timing. Each has been ordered to pay $60 in disgorgement and $20 million in civil penalties. This, combined with the $90 million that Pilgrim, Baxter & Associates was ordered to pay in July 2003, will eventually go to injured investors.

The SEC’s recent mutual fund governance rule could run up against a challenge after the spending bill gets passed, Dow Jones Newswires reports. The $388 billion bill includes a measure requiring the SEC to report to Congress on the performance and fees of mutual funds with independent chairmen.

The NASD Mutual Fund Task Force made its recommendations on soft dollars and disclosing portfolio transaction costs to the SEC Wednesday.

Parents faced with the daunting task of paying for their children’s college education continued to put cash in 529 college savings plans, as assets rose to $45.1 billion in the third quarter, according to data released Tuesday by the College Savings Foundation.