Special Program Root Tag

To educate investors on how much they have to invest to receive breakpoints, the NASD has proposed that fund companies release written disclosure statements that outline thresholds for receiving them.

People with money may not think as many things are funny. That’s according to a recent study published in a leading economic journal by two-University of Texas economists.

Money Management Executive wants to know what you think about the scandal. Take half a minute to answer four questions, including whether you think the Investment Company Institute is serving your interests well: http://www.mmexecutive.com/poll.cfm.

Frank Sinatra sang that when he was 21, everything came undone. But in 2003, when the mutual fund industry became the "scandal-scarred mutual fund industry," a Sinatra-like downturn that seemed imminent never occurred. In fact, the opposite happened.

With the return of the Dow Jones Industrial Average to the 10,000-plus point mark, the question has to be asked: How long will the bull market last?

U.S. exchange-traded funds turned in a strong performance last month rising to $132.7 billion at the end of November from $129.1 billion in October, the Investment Company Institute said on Monday.

Putnam Investments has announced that Robert Goodman, a managing director and senior economic adviser, will retire on Wednesday.

At a time when holiday festivities should be the center of attention for most, the staff at one fund company, instead of celebrating, is mourning the loss of its leader. On Dec. 11, the founder of Rydex Funds, A.P. "Skip" Viragh, died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Sarasota, Fla. He was 62.

Sun Life Financial’s Massachusetts Financial Services subsidiary could strike a deal with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as early as this week, the Toronto Globe and Mail reports.

Raymond James expects to repay investors $6.9 million and the SEC $6.5 million for failure to give investors mutual fund breakpoints, the Associated Press reports. In total, that will impact the company’s revenues by more than $13 million and result in a pretax charge of $9.8 million.

Curian Capital has announced it plans to offer its managed account program through Security Service Investment Group.

Manulife Financial has received a subpoena from New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Dow Jones reports, citing the Canadian Press.

Raymond James expects to repay investors $6.9 million and the SEC $6.5 million for failure to give investors mutual fund breakpoints, the Associated Press reports. In total, that will impact the company’s revenues by more than $13 million and result in a pretax charge of $9.8 million.

Two days after three of its employees were put on administrative leave for improper trading – and on the very day it received a subpoena – a Franklin Resources proxy statement revealed that 70-year-old Chairman and CEO Charles Johnson has been awarded a $2 million bonus.

Retirement planning and mutual fund giant Principal Financial said on Tuesday that more staff has improperly traded then originally believed.

Fidelity Investments and the National Securities Clearing Corp. have partnered in a yearlong project to develop the technology to time-stamp mutual fund trades, The New York Times reports. The two giants are hoping that by time-stamping trade orders that come via outside intermediaries, only those orders made by the so-called hard 4 p.m. close will be allowed to get through – thus eradicating illegal late trading once and for all. The Times characterizes this as a "time-stamped lockbox."

Two Former Investment Company Institute chairmen offered 11 suggestions yesterday to re-align the mutual fund industry with its former impeccable image.

Money Management Executive wants to know what you think about the scandal. Take half a minute to answer four questions, including whether you think the Investment Company Institute is serving your interests well: http://www.mmexecutive.com/poll.cfm.

A former attorney turned Las Vegas hedge fund manager has reaped the biggest gains so far in the unfolding mutual fund scandal, the SEC charged yesterday.

One day after admitting it placed three employees on administrative leave for possible market timing infractions, Franklin Resources announced Tuesday that two U.S. prosecutors have served the company with subpoenas.