Special Program Root Tag

Last week’s settlement with hedge fund Canary Capital Partners may be just the tip of the iceberg, as 11 more hedge funds were subpoenaed, with at least one possibly committing the same sins are Canary, according to reports.

In light of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s probe into illegal mutual fund trading practices, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William Donaldson told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday the SEC will be looking very closely at how funds do business, Reuters reports.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has joined Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin’s probe into the mutual fund trading practices of Prudential Securities, Reuters reports.

The Phoenix Companies has a new Edge – Freedom Edge, that is. The new C-share variable annuity replaces Retirement Planner’s Edge, which was discontinued in September of last year because many planners were placing the bulk of assets in the fixed account. Slim spreads between offered rates and prevailing interest rates put profitability pressure on the company.

Employees who want private college educations for their children now have a college savings vehicle, too.

The effects of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s probe into mutual fund late trading and market timing are beginning to reach far and wide. The U.S. attorney for the Justice Department in Manhattan, James Comey, is joining the case, The Wall Street Journal reports. With Comey on board, the stakes become higher because the penalties now carry the threat of possible federal prosecution. The news follows the Securities and Exchange Commission’s announcement Friday that it was joining forces with Spitzer.

Investors in defined contribution plans through Charles Schwab & Co. will receive the company’s investment advice for free, the company announced Monday.

Say goodbye to Locust Street Securities and Washington Square Securities. No, the firms aren’t closing shop, but their names will vanish at year-end, as parent ING joins the two firms together. Characterizing the move as an "integration," the ING Advisors Network said the new entity would be known as ING Financial Partners, Inc., starting Jan. 1. Karl Lindberg, currently president of Locust Street, will be the CEO of the new firm.

The separately managed account industry is just reaching the tip of the iceberg.

The hedge fund industry may have slowed down a bit during the quiet summer months. Then again, it may be continuing the strong growth that made the product the talk of Washington back in the spring. It all depends on who you talk to.

In the first of a long series of arbitrations through the National Association of Securities Dealers, a panel has awarded around $110,000 to an investor who had been sold variable annuities by John Steven Blount, a former broker for New York Life Securities. Blount has 97 customer complaints on record with the NASD, with the bulk of those pending arbitration.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's move to require fund advertisements to disclose a fund's most recent month's performance as well as a toll-free number or Web site where they can view up-to-date figures may soon become a reality. Paul Roye, director of the division of investment management at the SEC, said the commission might make this a rule by September or October. Two other proposals could be passed by November, Roye added. The first would require funds to disclose fund fees in dollar amounts for a $10,000 investment over the past six months, and the second would require funds to disclose their holdings on a quarterly rather than on a semi-annual basis. Funds would have to disclose the holdings within 60 days after the end of a quarter.

A good wholesaler has the personality, the character and the experience to profile their customers astutely in order to gain their trust and commitment. They know how to work as a true, comprehensive consultant to each of their clients. But even seasoned wholesalers can learn a new technique or two. SEI Investments recently ran a two-day training class to teach best practices to wholesalers, including how to compete with wholesalers whose fund complexes have larger sales force, marketing budgets and product offerings.

Pilgrim Baxter & Associates has named Mike Rose as senior vice president and president of PBHG Funds Distributors. In his new position, Rose will concentrate on expanding PBHG's distribution through the load and insurance channels by overseeing marketing, sales and product development.

AllianceBernstein has rolled out six mutual funds that will be modeled after investment strategies that its private client team uses. Called the Wealth Strategies funds, the family of six funds offer growth, tax-managed growth and various balances between growth and fixed income, with two of the offerings investing in tax-exempt fixed income. AllianceBernstein decided to offer these strategies to retail investors who today, after three years of a bear market, are aware more than ever of the importance of sound portfolio construction, said Michael J. Laughlin, executive vice president of Alliance Capital and chairman of AllianceBernstein Investment Research and Management.

Darryl Grayson has joined Gabelli Funds as senior vice president and national sales manager of mutual funds. He joins the firm from Ark Funds, the U.S. mutual fund subsidiary of Allied Irish Banks, where he headed national sales through broker/dealers and the bank's own sales force. He has also worked for Delaware Investments, Bankers Trust and OppenheimerFunds.

Robert J. McCann has rejoined Merrill Lynch as vice chairman of the wealth management group, reporting to Stan O'Neal, chairman and chief executive officer. McCann, who is filling a new position at Merrill, will also serve on the firm's executive and operating committees.

Gartmore Group has hired Richard A. Hein as senior vice president of its separately managed accounts business, in charge of business development, distribution and investment reporting.

What is it with straight-through processing? We've got all kinds of STP magazines, STP conferences and even STP consultants. But didn't the demise of the GSTP and the Global STP Association deliver the final word?

Fidelity. Vanguard. JPMorgan. The names of such leading financial companies evoke security and trust. But bigger financial firms don't always mean better performance, according to a study by T. Rowe Price. The study looked at the collective performance of each fund complex's offerings over one, three, five and 10 years ending March 31.