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Third Avenue Taps Dugan As New Financial Chief

After months of tossing a string of new rules and regulations at mutual fund advisors, the Securities and Exchange Commission has suddenly found itself playing defense in a unusual lawsuit being driven by staunch members of the mutual fund industry.

The advent of mutual fund proxy voting disclosure has brought executive compensation abuse under greater scrutiny and further emboldened the nation's largest labor union to take aim at the biggest names in the asset management business.

Mellon Financial Corp. announced this week it will buy a Rhode Island investment firm, making it the private wealth management group's third acquisition this summer and seventh in four years as part of a national expansion.

Amvescap Plc retired the Invesco brand name of its Denver-based retail mutual fund subsidiary Wednesday, one of the oldest monikers in the financial services industry, after reaching a $451 million settlement with securities regulators the previous day, Reuters reports. This is the first case of a company moniker possibly falling prey to the widespread mutual fund industry scandals involving more than a dozen firms.

New methods for calculating the S&P 500 Index will prompt billions of outflows from 33 leading mutual fund companies

Pax World Funds, the socially responsible investment firm, predicts a tidal wave of controversy stemming from newly disclosed proxy voting rules and has stoked the fire by publishing guidelines aimed at helping investors decipher the information.

Evergreen Investments, the asset management division of Wachovia Bank, has announced that it would start using the mWholesaler wireless interface from software firm Pyxis to give sales managers instant access to critical customer relationship management information.

Fidelity has the No. 1 consumer Web site and Mass Mutual Financial Group the No. 1 financial professional Web site, according to new rankings from Dalbar of insurance company Web sites.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued an adopting release that formalizes an amendment to Rule 12b-1 that prohibits funds from selecting broker/dealers for portfolio transactions based upon their sales of mutual funds. Fund companies must comply with the order by Dec. 13.

Improper trading at ING U.S. was a case of mostly isolated incidents and did not represent a widespread problem, the maligned mutual fund firm announced Wednesday.

Following Fidelity’s lead last week, E*Trade announced Tuesday that it would reduce expenses in both its S&P 500 and International Index funds to nine basis points, lowering the fees to well below the industry average.

American mutual fund companies have recently lowered sales projections in Singapore, once considered an untapped gold mine populated by wealthy investors. As a result, they have and begun pruning back underutilized funds with low portfolio balances, Reuters reports.

A new shareholder advocacy Web site has been designed to advise investors if their mutual funds own any companies that could weigh on returns due to their policies on key environmental issues. The site, www.cookingyournestegg.com is expected to go live on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

Amvescap, the London-based parent of Invesco Funds of Denver and AIM Advisors of Houston, on Tuesday revealed it has agreed to pay $451 million to settle with regulators allegations of improper trading activity at the two shops.

Investors noting the one-year anniversary of landmark indictments brought against mutual fund companies by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer are still waiting for promised settlement payments, and growing increasingly restless, The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

After a recent surge in assets, American Funds, the mutual fund industry's persistent stalking horse, is on pace to overtake its two largest competitors: Fidelity Investments and Vanguard, Bloomberg reports.

Columbia Management, the investment arm of Bank of America, has hired Christopher Wilson to serve as head of mutual funds. In this position, Wilson will be in charge of all operational and non-distribution aspects of the business, such as treasury, accounting and shareholder and broker services. In addition, he must ensure that all of these functions are in full compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements. Wilson joins the firm from CDC IXIS Asset Management, where he was president and chief executive officer.

Nasdaq, in a joint announcement with Web-based 401(k) provider Invest n Retire, LLC, said its Nasdaq exchange traded funds (ETFs) will be available for the company's retirement investors.

Over the past year, mutual funds have paid more than $2.6 billion in fines, seen nearly two dozen firms implicated, experienced the firing of more than 80 key executives and have had to comply with a multitude of new regulations from the SEC and the NASD.