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Wrobleske, Ngugi, Reyes Now With Stanford Group

Global warming and its effect on climate changes isn't just the topic du jour for cocktail parties. This worldwide theme is making its way into mutual fund strategies. Fund advisors are hoping to get both a warm reception from investors and generate hot investment returns.

While we will certainly give credit to Eliot "The Steamroller" Spitzer for taking on illicit trading and sales activities in the mutual fund industry while he was New York attorney general, we wondered why, when he was running for governor, he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from hedge funds, which, after all, were at the heart of the scandal. It's entirely possible some of the funds that showered Spitzer with money conducted market timing or late trading. That would make his acceptance of their contributions a serious conflict of interest and, possibly, a tacit agreement not to indict them.

Citigroup's Smith Barney division has agreed to pay $50 million to settle market-timing charges by the New York Stock Exchange and New Jersey regulators. Of the $50 million total, $40 million will go to investors who were harmed by the activity.

For decades, the question of investor access to company proxies has been a Pandora's box for the Securities and Exchange Commission, chock-full of competing interests and opinions from the investment community.

Bank and trust-controlled collective investment trusts (CITs) may give retail mutual fund companies a run for their money in 401(k) and other defined contribution plans.

Automatic 401(k) enrollment programs are making headway among corporations across America and are expected to gain increasing traction, helping more investors be better prepared for retirement, according to Fidelity Investments.

While we will certainly give credit to Eliot "The Steamroller" Spitzer for taking on illicit trading and sales activities in the mutual fund industry while he was New York attorney general, we wondered why, when he was running for governor, he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from hedge funds, which, after all, were at the heart of the scandal. It's entirely possible some of the funds that showered Spitzer with money conducted market timing or late trading. That would make his acceptance of their contributions a serious conflict of interest and, possibly, a tacit agreement not to indict them.

The Hartford Fined $115M In Rigging, Timing Case

FRC Promotes Fleites to Director of Retirement

We've got to hand it to the board of directors at AIM Investments for acting responsibly and in direct response to a profound change in public sentiment.

Although Barclays Global Investors runs $301 billion in exchange-traded fund money through 137 funds- commanding a 60% share of the $500 billion ETF market-Vanguard and State Street are launching new products and marketing campaigns to catch up, Reuters reports.

Despite a recent survey that found 83% of executives believe that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has had a positive impact on their company, industry experts do not agree.

The first of a new wave of 130/30 long/short mutual funds are hitting the mainstream investment landscape. They are taking their cue from the institutional arena where 130/30 strategies have been a scorching hot commodity and are rolling out to clients at a record pace.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-In the race to capture rollover retirement assets, retail banks have been somewhat of a sleeping giant.

We've got to hand it to the board of directors at AIM Investments for acting responsibly and in direct response to a profound change in public sentiment.

Securities America Fined For Directed Brokerage

Fidelity Selects Lawson As FMR Corp. President

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-Retirees and their broker/dealers have one thing in common: they both want advice.

Recently, the National Bureau of Economic Research issued a report debunking the theory that as the 77 million Baby Boomers begin to turn 65 in 2011 and cash out of their stock and bond holdings, the markets will spiral into a bear market. The bureau's argument is that 401(k) assets currently represent only a small fraction of people's retirement portfolios, and as 401(k)s continue to grow markedly in coming years, the influx of new investments will buoy the markets.