Special Program Root Tag

People flock to the movies during the summer blockbuster frenzy to flee the stresses of their everyday lives, but in actuality, many mutual fund investors have some portion of their finances staked on the success of the films they are using as an escape.

In response to the Securities and Exchange Commission's charge that one of its representatives improperly sold mutual fund B shares and that it failed to monitor its sale of various classes of mutual funds, Prudential Securities has agreed to pay $382,000. However, Prudential neither confirmed nor denied the allegations. The settlement broke down to $300,000 in civil penalties, and $82,000 in reparations to investors reportedly hurt by the companies' conduct.

SEI Investments has made Electronic Trading Services capable of straight-through-processing. Eligible equity trades can now be handled entirely automatically, without any manual intervention - from the order, to the marketplace and back to the system of record. Trades are executed, processed, settled and accounted for without the need for any human intervention.

PFPC, a member of the PNC Financial Services Group, has launched a program that will offer clients the ability to deposit funds intended for brokerage accounts via ATM machines. Customers can deposit a check, and if it is received before 3:00 p.m. Eastern time, it will be processed the next day. The funds are moved from the point of deposit in a completely paperless transaction.

Transamerica Investment Management recently announced the firm has hired Ted E. Harris as its vice president of retail sales. He will oversee the sales efforts of the Transamerica Premier Funds and the TIM subadvised portfolios in the IDEX Mutual Funds and the Transamerica/WRL variable products.

State Street Research & Management Company recently announced that Ajay Mehra will join the firm as head of equity research in early August. He will report to C. Kim Goodwin, chief investment officer - equities.

The regulator for Freddie Mac spread the blame around, saying "a breakdown in integrity" at the mortgage buyer and an outside law firm lead to misleading the government in regards to its recent accounting woes, according to Reuters.

TrimTabs.com Investment Research claims investors threw $600 million into stock-based mutual funds last week, Dow Jones Business News reports. However, that is significantly down from the $2.9 billion in inflows the funds showed during the previous week. Stats were for the week ending Wednesday July 16.

Mutual fund giant Federated Investors inked a deal Friday 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.

Mutual fund investors that have been playing it safe with their investments are now paying the price, the Wall Street Journal reports. Many fund companies have introduced principal protected funds, which essentially guarantees that the investor will be protected from losing their initial investment, and perhaps get a little bit more out of it, the newspaper said. Roughly $10 billion has flooded into such funds over the past four years, coinciding with the downturn in the market.

The U.S. recession formally ended in November 2001, the National Bureau of Economic Research announced last week, but what lies ahead is still a big question mark.

Hennessee Hedge Fund Advisory Group, a hedge fund investment consulting firm, announced earlier this month that hedge funds posted a 1.5% return in June, placing its year-to-date return at 8.98%.

Fidelity Investments and The Vanguard Group are trying to establish a base in the Singapore market, but the city-state’s major banks are unlikely to relinquish their dominant position anytime soon, according to Reuters.

The Oakmark Small Cap fund said Edward Studzinski has been named co-portfolio manager. Studzinski’s previous position was that of an investment analyst and co-portfolio manager of the Oakmark Equity and Income fund, a position he has held since March 2000.

SEI Investments said Thursday second-quarter net income dropped 4.2% citing lower trading volume, a decline in revenue, and a loss on investments.

As interest rates have declined to their lowest level in 45 years and individual investors pull cash from money market mutual funds, municipalities and other institutional investors have been moving money into the funds, the Wall Street Journal reports.

New York Life Insurance and Annuity Corporation introduced The Pinnacle Lifetime Guarantee, an insurance product designed to provide permanent and adaptable life insurance coverage to business owners and high-net-worth clients aiming to provide for their heirs and conserve their assets.

U.S.- registered global stock funds have been getting assistance from a weak dollar as it boosts foreign holdings in portfolios, Reuters reports.

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

William Donaldson, the Securities and Exchange chairman, endorsed recommendations to allow shareholders a greater say in the governance of corporate boards.