Special Program Root Tag

Conseco has made management changes and put the brakes on its individual annuity and life insurance lines. Liz Georgakopoulos, once president of the insurance unit, is no longer with the company, and three senior members of her team have also left. Bill Shea, CEO, has assumed the role of president of the insurance group.

Janus Capital Group Inc. has moved to expand its Asian distribution by signing an agreement to offer its funds through 30 Taiwan banks. The move comes as its assets under management fell again in the first quarter.

Fidelity employees whose base salary is lower than $75,000 will be eligible for merit pay raises this year, thanks to the strong performance of the biggest U.S. mutual fund firm, Reuters reports.

A former Fidelity trader was sentenced to 30 months in prison for conspiracy and wire fraud that led to a $2.39 million loss of the No. 1 U.S. mutual fund firm, as well as obstructing a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, Reuters reports.

Nationwide Financial will introduce Plan Advisory Service, a fee-based payment option to be available to Registered Investment Advisors and Certified Public Accountants who provide qualified retirement plans to clients through a fee arrangement rather a commissioned basis.

Big insurer Nationwide Financial, which will begin selling separately managed accounts through banks this Thursday, is jumping aboard a product juggernaut that a research firm says should reach $1 trillion of sales by 2007.

Funds are desperately seeking new ways of marketing funds to customers in this bear market, The Wall Street Journal reports.

PowerShares Capital Management has introduced two new exchange traded funds to the market: Dynamic Market Portfolio and Dynamic OTC Portfolio. Both are based on new quantitatively managed indexes from the American Stock Exchange.

JP Morgan Fleming, the asset management arm of JP Morgan Chase, said yesterday it will buy a 33% stake in a fund management joint venture in China for 49.5 million yuan ($5.98 million), Reuters reports.

Mutual fund giant Franklin Resources said late last week second-quarter earnings dropped nearly 9% as a continued slowdown in equity markets pared the value of assets under management.

Mutual fund complexes are beginning to realize that implementing anti-money laundering programs requires more than just flag-waving. In fact, the rules are complicated, expensive and, because they are being set in stages, confusing.

Investment adviser Doug Fabian warned investors of load funds in his most recent installment of his Lemon List, saying they could be hit with a double whammy if they buy into these funds. Things were so sour among these products that 75% of the 601 funds on the list not only severely lag their benchmarks, but also charge a commission and high management fees.

The deadly SARS outbreak is having a serious effect on the fund industry in Asia. According to a report by Reuters, the business, typically dependant on face-to-face contact in the region, has slowed significantly.

Stock funds regained popularity among investors who had preferred bond funds during the stock slump, with a stock index fund run by the Vanguard Group becoming last month’s best-selling U.S. mutual fund, Reuters reports.

T. Rowe Price reported a 27% drop in quarterly earnings Friday, citing continued weakness in stock market valuations amid a grinding bear market.

In spite of the eight-day war rally in the middle of last month that drove major equity indexes up 11%, investors are still exercising caution, Lipper reported last week. Bond funds remain the strongest-selling sector among mutual funds.

Helen Young Hayes' declaration last week she is leaving her position as managing director of investments at Janus Capital could disturb the ailing fund giant's attempt to remake itself from a growth shop in order to retain assets. It could also signal the end of an electrifying era for the firm.

Mutual fund complexes are beginning to realize that implementing anti-money laundering programs requires more than just flag-waving. In fact, the rules are complicated, expensive and, because they are being set in stages, confusing.

Floating rate bank loan mutual funds were the low volatility, high-yield, fixed-income fund choice of investors in the mid to late '90s. But since the turn of the century, many of these funds have been searching for a life preserver.

Jefferson Pilot Financial has hired Carol Rando as vice president of marketing and distribution operations. Rando most recently comes from Travelers Life & Annuity, where she had been operating chief of life distribution.