Special Program Root Tag

George Wilbanks is managing director in the investment management practice at Russell Reynolds Associates' New York headquarters. This is the inaugural edition of his new quarterly "Power Plays" column, in which he will discuss recruiting trends.

To support its separately managed account business, Phoenix Cos. has been running a print campaign, "Money, it's Just Not What it Used to Be," for the past four years to convey the idea that the old perception of money has changed. Just last month, the Financial Communications Society awarded the campaign a gold award for corporate image.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William Donaldson announced last week that the comment period from the hedge fund roundtable will remain open until July 7, 2003. The public can submit materials to be included in the public record by sending them electronically to hedgefunds@sec.gov or submitting them in hard copy to Jonathan G. Katz, Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549-0609. All submissions should refer to File No. 4-476.

WASHINGTON - Less than half of 401(k) participants say they are "very satisfied" with the service providers that handle recordkeeping and investments, according to Warren Cormier, president of Boston Research Group of Hopkinton, Mass., and co-chair of the Spark Research Group of Simsbury, Conn.

Ibbotson Associates has introduced iManager, a software and support program mutual fund for wholesalers to create customized mutual fund fact sheets. Ibbotson consultants are available to help wholesalers create peer group comparisons and other custom details.

SEI Investments, a global provider of asset management, fund processing and investment technology solutions, announced a new product Friday called Product Analysis.

Securities regulators have launched a formal investigation into the sales practices of annuity brokers at New York-based brokerage firm Prudential Securities, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Morningstar announced Friday it will acquire mPower, a privately held firm that specializes in serving the large plan sponsor retirement market. Founded in 1995, mPower was a pioneer in providing online retirement advice.

Seven Vanguard funds have started tracking new indexes developed by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), Vanguard announced last week.

Securities regulators have launched a formal investigation into the sales practices of annuity brokers at New York-based brokerage firm Prudential Securities, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Gathering the largest percentage of inflows into all types of mutual funds in 2002, funds of funds received one out of every seven dollars that flowed into the worldwide mutual fund industry last year, according to a recent Cerulli Associates study.

Federated Investors has launched a 529 plan sponsored by Oregon and administered by State Street Corp.’s Schoolhouse Capital.

Charles Schwab & Co. has introduced a small-cap equity fund that will use its in-house equity ratings. The Schwab Small-Cap Equity Fund is designed for a broad range of investors interested in long-term capital growth of small companies through a single investment.

The new low hit by the dollar has prompted international fund managers to shift from U.S.-based bond funds to those within the eurozone in May, Reuters reports. The data come from a monthy Reuters poll of 40 fund managers, which showed that the euro’s rise encouraged the 40 fund managers polled to favor most euro zone assets, particularly fixed income.

Putnam Investments is estimated to have seen $642 million of cash pulled from its stock and bond mutual funds in April, the biggest cash outflow of the top 25 U.S. fund firms of that month, Reuters reports.

According to TrimTabs.com Investment Research, investors took $1.48 billion out of stock-based mutual funds Tuesday through Thursday, Dow Jones Newswires reports.

Prudential Financial is now offering 12 separately managed account portfolios that offer multi-manager strategies in its Managed Accounts Consulting Services Program (MACS). Each offers either an equity or balanced strategy that is overseen by a lead portfolio manager who works within pre-determined criteria.

Fidelity Investments plans to establish a fund that tracks the entire Nasdaq Composite Index in the second half of the year, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing the fund firm’s Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Vanguard Group has slated a third annuity product for the fall, the Lifetime Income Program. The new product, in development in conjunction with AIG Life Insurance Co., is an immediate annuity that will allow investors to opt for fixed or variable payments for life.

WASHINGTON – Paul Roye, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s director of the division of investment management, issued a wakeup call for the mutual fund industry, telling attendees that the industry’s place in the market is not assured, during remarks at the Investment Company Institute’s annual convention here Friday.