Special Program Root Tag

Stock fund investors invested a net $1.39 billion into funds in the week ended Wednesday, according to research firm AMG Data Services.

The 2004 Morningstar Investment Conference kicks off this week as portfolio managers and mutual fund sales personnel head to the Windy City to discuss picking stocks in a tough investing environment and various distribution issues facing the industry in the wake of the scandal.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has put Bear Stearns on notice of possible civil charges for improper mutual fund trades placed through several of its business subsidiaries, The Wall Street Journal reports.

MassMutual Retirement Services of has named Matt Abraham its national sales director for public markets.

Rep. Paul Gillmore (R-OH) has introduced a companion bill in the House to the Mutual Fund Reform Act sponsored by Senator Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL) in the Senate.

The Dreyfus Corporation noted a triumph this week when a disgruntled investor voluntarily withdrew a class action lawsuit seeking to recover the costs of marketing fees in funds that had closed to new investors.

Janus Capital Group ended a nearly 20-year business relationship by selling the last of its stake this week in mutual fund service provider DST Systems, Inc, The Kansas City Star reports.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has put Bear Stearns on notice of possible civil charges for improper mutual fund trades placed through several of its business subsidiaries, The Wall Street Journal reports.

MassMutual Retirement Services of has named Matt Abraham its national sales director for public markets.

Rep. Paul Gillmore (R-OH) has introduced a companion bill in the House to the Mutual Fund Reform Act sponsored by Senator Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL) in the Senate.

The Dreyfus Corporation noted a triumph this week when a disgruntled investor voluntarily withdrew a class action lawsuit seeking to recover the costs of marketing fees in funds that had closed to new investors.

Janus Capital Group ended a nearly 20-year business relationship by selling the last of its stake this week in mutual fund service provider DST Systems, Inc, The Kansas City Star reports.

Despite the down market years of the post-Internet bubble bear market and subsequent financial market scandals, American investors are in the midst of a resurgence in which one in 125 individuals can claim the distinction of being millionaires, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Mutual fund services provider BISYS has beefed up its compliance services by hiring two industry veterans to serve as outsourced chief compliance officers for its fund clients.

The Managed Funds Association (MFA) believes it has the necessary backing from regulators and government insiders to turn back proposed regulations aimed at bringing hedge funds under the laws of registered investment advisors, TheStreet.com reports.

The NASD and Securities and Exchange Commission are beginning to shift their attention away from the widespread mutual fund scandals to spearheading newly proposed guidelines targeting variable annuity sales, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Individual states are taking a cue from regulators and taking steps toward assembling nationwide guidelines for selling 529 college savings plans, Dow Jones Newswires reports. The states’ efforts have already produced a draft set of guidelines that has been circulated to state treasurers, the SEC and the House Committee on Financial Services. The proposed guidelines, which are tentatively scheduled for release by December, are intended to replace varying state requirements for selling 529 plans with a contiguous series of rules.

The AARP has an interesting idea, and it has little to do with the "R" in its name. Instead of retirement, the 50 and over association is urging its members to work.

SEC Commissioner Cynthia Glassman said Monday she is not sold on the agency’s rule proposals requiring an independent chairman and the implementation of a mandatory redemption fee.

"Spitzer 2006," the almost certain name of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s campaign fundraising group, asks for money in funny ways, Newsweek reports.