Special Program Root Tag

ING Funds has selected the Bank of New York to provide fund accounting, custody, securities lending and foreign exchange services for the ING Funds, comprising approximately $40 billion of mutual fund assets. The assets represent those of ING Funds and its affiliated fund complexes, including the former Pilgrim and Aetna Funds, as well as various variable annuity portfolios.

Several mutual fund companies and investment advisors that have taken steps to comply with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proxy voting reporting rules are ill prepared to continue the task significantly beyond the Aug. 6 deadline.

WASHINGTON – Tensions ran high during a general session at the Regulatory Affairs Conference here, sponsored by the National Association for Variable Annuities.

Charles Schwab’s Mutual Fund OneSource fund supermarket volume of 55,700 transactions in May increased 1% from May 2002, but declined 3% from April 2003. Total trades of 199,600 during the month were up 11% from a year ago and up 13% from April 2003.

Sands Brothers Asset Management has selected ADP/OMR, a subsidiary of Automatic Data Processing’s brokerage services group, to provide administrative services for its hedge fund of funds. ADP/OMR will provide Sands Brothers with a full range of administrative services including performance reporting, risk measurement with transparency by sector or strategy and fund accounting.

Some Fidelity fund managers are taking a bigger gamble on technology and other aggressive holdings, Dow Jones reports.

The House Committee on Financial Services released a General Accounting Office report Monday calling for far greater fund transparency.

The world fund industry’s profits may be halved over the next few years, according to a survey of asset management firms by the Boston Consulting Group, Reuters reports.

American Express Financial Corp. is buying Threadneedle Asset Management Holdings from Zurich Financial Services Group for $570 million in cash. The acquisition of the U.K. firm will give American Express an entrée to the privatization of Europe’s pension industry, and also allow the firm to cross-sell its travel and credit card services. The deal is expected to close at the end of the year.

Eaton Vance Spends $28M For Parametric Portfolio

DUBLIN - The retailization of hedge funds seems to be gaining momentum overseas, and international regulators are taking a cautious approach to the growing demand. But investment professionals in the U.S. are expressing little concern for, and no interest in, providing this product to the average investors.

NEW YORK - "Separately managed accounts are about a process, not a product," reminded Jack Sharry, president of the private client group of Phoenix Investment Partners of Hartford, Conn., speaking at a media conference held here earlier this month. The event, which detailed how the separately managed accounts consulting process works, was sponsored by the Money Management Institute, the national organization of the managed account industry, headquartered in Washington.

The closed-end fund world has been under siege by a rash of exchange-traded funds in recent years, triggering a dramatic shift in the focus of equity-fund initial public offerings (IPOs).

Investors placing bets on a second-half recovery in the U.S. economy could prove to be overzealous, as key measures of growth are not aligned with soaring stock prices.

JPMorgan, the asset management unit of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., has taken sole ownership of its joint venture retirement plan with American Century Investments.

The F&C Claymore Preferred Securities Income Fund has selected PFPC for its fund accounting and administration services. Flaherty & Crumine, founded in 1983, specializes in the management of preferred securities and manages approximately $2.5 billion in preferred and related securities.

CollegeChoice 529 Investment Plan, an affiliate of Bank One Corp., has expanded its college savings portfolio to include five new funds and a dollar-cost averaging feature. The plan now includes the Fidelity Advisor Inflation-Protected Bond Fund, the Franklin Mutual Advisors Mutual Shares Fund, the MFS Massachusetts Investors Growth Stock Fund, the Low-Price Stock Fund and the Templeton Foreign Fund. Its seven existing portfolios are invested in One Group mutual funds.

Evergreen Investments has launched a new national advertising campaign entitled, "More Demanding." The ads focus on the disciplined approach and long-term dedication to quality asset management Evergreen has deployed since 1932.

The National Investment Company Services Association (NICSA) has elected Penelope S. Alexander, senior vice president of human resources at Franklin Templeton Investments, as chairperson of the board of directors. She replaces Gary French, senior vice president and fund administration business head at State Street, who concluded his two-year term as chairman of the board May 30.

Roger Engemann, chief executive officer of Roger Engemann & Associates, an asset management subsidiary of Phoenix Investment Partners, has announced the appointment of Gretchen Lash to succeed him in that role. Lash will serve as CEO and CIO, and Engemann will continue to serve as chairman of the board.