Special Program Root Tag

Technology has played an integral role in the development of the financial services industry over its life span, as companies have continually churned out new products that make investing procedures more reliable, more efficient and more cost effective.

Investor confidence in the financial markets is slowly improving, as a recent report showed equity mutual fund flows hit their highest level in more than a year.

Lehman Brothers' acquisition of Neuberger Berman, both of New York, will permit the two firms to diversify and grow their combined $100 billion in assets.

It's a given these days that if one sells wares through financial intermediary channels, so called "value added" services are a must-have to help brokers and reps consult, pitch, sell and manage their businesses. Moreover, investment management firms are getting "pushy," realizing that it's often more effective to selectively push information out to advisers, rather than expect them to trip over cool presentations or news and tips at proprietary Web sites.

Matt Patsky has investors seeing green, and it's not just because the fund he helps oversee is environmentally sensitive and has a colorful name. The Winslow Green Growth Fund finished well ahead of many of its peers during the second quarter, showing a return of 43.9% during the period, versus a 22.2% return for all 482 small-cap growth funds, according to data from Lipper of New York.

E*Trade Group plans a partial rebate of 50% of the 12b-1 and shareholder service agreement (SSA) fees to shareholders that it collects from mutual fund companies for distributing and servicing their respective funds.

Portfolio positions worldwide are being rearranged as fund managers have raised their expectations for economic recovery, according to a recent Merrill Lynch survey.

Mutual fund giant Federated Investors has inked a deal to buy the mutual fund assets of Washington-based banking firm Riggs National in a move that would boost Federated's total assets by about $470 million.

Manulife USA has appointed Bruce R. Speca as its executive vice president, investment management services.

Ibbotson Associates recently promoted Peng Chen to managing director and Jerry Korabik and Daryl Lucas to vice president. Chen heads Ibbotson's research department; Korabik leads the educational training group; and Lucas manages software development for the company's key product offerings.

Edward Studzinski has expanded his role as an investment analyst and co-portfolio manager of the Oakmark Equity and Income fund, a position he has held since March 2000, to include co-managing the Oakmark Small Cap fund. He will be working with James Benson, who has managed the Small Cap fund since 1999.

Seattle-based Safeco, which has pledged to raise $1 million in scholarships for the University of Washington this year, recently raised $270,000 during a dinner held at Safeco field, where an All-Star baseball game was broadcast on a big screen. The Seattle Mariners mascot, the Moose, visited with guests, and the ground crew performed a choreographed dance. The fundraising dinner was held July 15.

Manulife Financial has expanded its 401(k) offering beyond just an annuity to offer a choice of 53 mutual funds. The lineup includes funds from such leading firms as AIM Capital Management, Deutsche Asset Management, MFS Investment Management and Putnam Investment Management. The new 401(k) product, Manulife Retirement Select, also includes recordkeeping services and is unbundled, so that sponsors can tailor their 401(k) plan.

Investors pulled money out of bond funds and invested a net $3.2 billion into U.S. stock mutual funds in the week ending Wednesday, according to AMG Data Services, Reuters reports. With the rise of S&P 500 index this year, it would seem investors are becoming more apt to put their money in stock funds in search of more substantial gains. Stock funds have had inflows for the past four weeks, according to AMG.

T. Rowe Price said Friday its second-quarter earnings rose as a post-war stock market rally and lower interest rates helped boost assets under management.

MassMutual Financial has added push e-mails to its defined contribution and defined benefit services.

ING Group has bought Entrium, Germany’s second-largest direct bank.

TD Asset Management, the investment arm of TD Bank Financial Group in Toronto, announced Wednesday that a Canadian unit of UBS Warburg will advise its international equity fund.

After postponing a markup session for the mutual fund transparency bill earlier this month, the House Financial Services Committee has approved H.R. 2420, but with several key changes that take a lot of the punch out of the original proposal.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William H. Donaldson commended members of the joint NASD/industry task force on breakpoints Thursday. The task force issued a report Monday recommending reforms across the industry regarding mutual fund purchases (see MME 7/22/03). The recommendations include improving breakpoint disclosure and creating a central database of mutual fund purchases.