Special Program Root Tag

Smith Barney and Gabelli Asset Management recently made important disclosure revisions to their funds’ prospectuses regarding broker compensation and fees.

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. is talking to the SEC, New Hampshire regulators and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer about a settlement including $200 million in restitution and penalties and another $100 million worth of reduced fees over the next several years, The New York Times reports today. The paper cites several sources close to the talks as its source of information.

The American Association of Individual Investment has a mission of educating investors who handle their own mutual fund transactions by offering "educational" advice about funds.

OXFORD, Miss. – The mutual fund fee bill is in the mail. And it should include the hidden costs of mutual funds, which are so significant that in some cases they are several times greater than the fund’s stated expense ratio.

The case against Massachusetts Financial Services grew stronger Friday as an internal review revealed that mutual fund shareholders suffered $100 million in losses due to illegal late trading, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Most investors from affluent households, while unlikely to reduce the number of mutual fund shares they own, either see the recent scandal as a non-isolated incident or have not yet made up their minds, according to a recent study by Phoenix Marketing International.

The No. 1 and No. 3 U.S. public pension funds will work together on corporate governance reforms, but not create a joint office for such initiatives as was previously suggested, Reuters reports.

The Securities and Exchange Commission last Tuesday put forth the details of its code of ethics proposal for mutual funds, as part of a three-pronged approach to improve corporate governance and disclosure in the $7 trillion industry. (See code of ethics details, page 13.)

The best of intentions sometimes go awry. But, despite the 12b-1 rule's departure from its original spirit, dismantling the rule is not a viable option, research firm Lipper concludes in a recently released study.

Nearly half of a pool of corporate finance chiefs say their company's 401(k) plan includes funds that have been tainted by the recent mutual fund scandal.

It's not easy being the new kid on the block. But sometimes being the old kid on the block is no bed of roses, either.

Wielding their $1 trillion clout, state pension leaders and treasurers partnered with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer recently to tear into the SEC's proposed fund reforms.

SEC Chairman William Donaldson said last Tuesday the agency will seek the opinions of the nation's 91 million mutual fund investors over the next 60 days on what the ideal point-of-sale and trade-confirmation reports should look like for broker-sold funds.

Fidelity Taps Paton Twice; Adds Two to Debt Fund Squad

The series of unconventional print advertisements that the Guinness Atkinson Funds, Glendora, Calif., have been running in the Wall Street Journal since the start of this year are definitely not your typical mutual fund ads.

With a scandal comes a scramble. Major changes among top executives are taking place at Bank of America, Putnam, Alliance and other high-profile firms.

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin charged Cantella Securities of Boston Wednesday with improperly selling a hedge fund to non-accredited investors, who each lost about $100,000 apiece. Registered reps James Pangione and Timothy Rassias were charged with the improper sales, as well as wiping out 90% of the assets in two hedge funds by investing the money in tech.

Chicago-based Nuveen Investments said Wednesday it saw a 20% increase in assets under management from a year ago, as the company set a record for yearly income with $144 million.

Out with the old and in with the new. The first part of the Money Management Executive fund scandal questionnaire is almost completed, with Sunday, January 25th as the final day we will be accepting votes for our first four questions. Weigh in here on the Investment Company Institute, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the industry’s biggest woes, and potential reform, now before its too late.

Equity funds experienced their 10th consecutive month of net inflows in December, but it was the smallest amount the group had seen since May. Equity funds pulled in $15.5 billion in the final month of the year