Special Program Root Tag

Dodge & Cox Funds took preventative measures this week to reassure shareholders that rapid growth in its funds would not compromise the firm's investment performance, Reuters reports.

Disappointing third-quarter performances of many equity funds followed by Merrill Lynch prompted the wirehouse to lower earnings expectations on seven of the 11 mutual fund providers on its analysts' radar screens, CBS MarketWatch reports.

Separate accounts have also soared to $276.8 billion, a 29.1% increase over last year, reflecting more favorable economic conditions and increased interest in variable products, according to Weiss Ratings. Life and health insurance profits are also booming, up $212.5% for the first three months of 2004, compared to the same period last year. "The market rebound enabled assets in these accounts to regain and surpass their value from four years ago," said Melissa Gannon, vice president of Weiss Ratings. "In addition, consumers are becoming less fearful of the equity markets and are again considering variable life and variable annuity products."

In a year filled with securities industry scandals and settlements, the Securities and Exchange Commission has uncovered a new source of potential conflicts of interest. It could be yet another reason to expand the already overwhelming number of disclosures required of investment advisers and broker/dealers.

Although the Ontario Securities Commission found only four out of 105 firms in its initial investigation possibly guilty of market timing, some experts believe the probe could widen. And if it does, massive outflows from the firms under investigation could mirror what happened in the United States.

As the Oct. 5 deadline fast approaches for fund firms to have a compliance chief in place, the majority of firms are prepared, according to preliminary results of a recent study by Diversified Management Resources in Boston.

Russel Kinnel, director of fund research at Morningstar, tipped his hand this week by naming the Dodge & Cox stock management team, ICAP Select Equity fund manager Robert Lyon and Fidelity Contrafund skipper Will Danoff as possible candidates for the research firm's fund manager of the year.

It sounds like a broken record, but in these months before the 2004 presidential election, investors are opting for words like "safety" and "caution" over "wild" and "woolly." Equity fund inflows were an estimated $8.2 billion in August, according to Lipper, as value funds once again beat growth funds. As a whole, stock and non-stock equity funds (mixed and miscellaneous equity included) took in $11.5 billion. The amount is considered modest, a word which could also describe most investors’ styles right now.

The Ontario Securities Commission sent notices to four mutual fund managers, warning them of potential enforcement proceedings for market timing violations. The notices give the companies the opportunity to refute the charges, which are expected to take several months to resolve.

Two former PIMCO executives are poised to battle the Securities and Exchange Commission in court, forcing the federal regulator to prove the duo broke the law, reports The Los Angeles Times.

Franklin Resources this week publicly admitted to charges that it extended trading privileges in proprietary mutual funds to a Nevada-based market timer who promised direct investment in at least one of its hedge funds, CBS MarketWatch reports.

Northern Trust Global Advisors has named Heidi J. Levin a vice president in its private equity group. Levin's appointment was announced last Wednesday. She will focus on sourcing, due diligence, closingand portfolio management for the Northern Trust Corp. unit's core fund of funds and separate account products.

A top U.S. law firm committed malpractice by advising executives at an investment management firm to accept illegal late mutual fund trades from three hedge funds, a lawsuit claims, TheStreet.com reports.

The brokerage services division of Automatic Data Processing, in a move designed to align its mutual fund services platform with new federal regulations, has added a breakpoint calculation system to that platform.

The manager of the Matthews Japan Fund, which ranks No. 2 among all 13 Japan-focused U.S. mutual funds, is purchasing stakes in Japanese financial-services companies in order to churn a profit, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Assets held in hedge funds rose slightly in August, according to monthly data released Wednesday.

Genworth Financial has announced two appointments in its retirement income and investments business.

When Morningstar handed a Newsweek reporter a sheet of paper listing the assets under management for the 21 firms touched in the mutual fund scandal, it became obvious that the investigation begun by Eliot Spitzer just over a year ago had shaken the industry.

Mutual fund manager American Funds is killing the competition softly.

In a move geared toward trying to filter long-term money from pension funds and insurance premiums into its stock markets, China's government has contracted a group to study how such a transition can be made, Reuters reports.