Subject Root Tag

Exchange-traded funds are not the only exotic new product shaking up the mutual fund industry. A new breed of customized, web-based baskets of stocks has recently come to market.

If new employees were automatically enrolled in 401(k)'s, mutual fund companies might collect assets from the 15 percent of the population that fail to sign up for 401(k)s, fund executives and consultants said.

California Federal of San Francisco has just joined the growing number of banks offering checking accounts with a "sweep" function that invests excess money in money market mutual funds.

In response to the increasing popularity of exchange-traded-funds, two firms are about to introduce two variations of the product.

Legislation introduced in the U.S. House in June that would lower the capital gains taxes investors involuntarily incur as a result of the distributions made within fund portfolios, has received varying reviews from representatives and executives of the mutual fund and annuity industries. The advantages the measure would give the mutual fund industry could drive a wedge between it and the annuities industry.

Insurance companies have increasingly been seeking exemptions under Section 26(b) of the Investment Company Act to substitute one annuity sub-account for another without holding a shareholder vote, raising SEC concerns.

Standard & Poor's Retirement Services, the investment advisory subsidiary of Standard & Poor's Investment Services of New York, has received an exemption to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The exemption will safeguard it and plan sponsors who use its services against fiduciary liability.

Separately-managed account assets grew four percent during the second quarter, according to Cerulli Associates of Boston.

The Bank of New York has agreed to acquire Ivy Asset Management of Garden City, N.Y. for an undisclosed price, Bank of New York announced.

Following its acquisition of U.S. Trust of New York this past June, Charles Schwab & Co. of San Francisco will offer an $800 million private equity fund for wealthy investors this fall, a Schwab spokesperson said.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has tossed out a motion by Vanguard of Malvern, Pa. to dismiss a lawsuit that Standard & Poor's parent company, McGraw-Hill of New York, brought against Vanguard for using the S&P 500 Index for an exchange-traded class of shares.

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee, Wis. has been given permission by the Treasury Department's Office of Thrift Supervision to establish a trust company that will offer trust services and investment management services to wealthy clients, the company announced.

The fair disclosure regulation that the SEC approved Aug. 10 is causing widespread concern among mutual fund portfolio managers and analysts that it will stop the flow of corporate information needed to effectively run funds, executives said.

Franklin Templeton Services, Inc., a unit of Franklin Resources of San Mateo, Calif., has sued its previous president for allegedly breaching his $1.17 million severance agreement.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has granted its first no-action letter easing the personal holdings requirements for independent directors of a fund's investment advisor. The decision puts the SEC's treatment of independent directors of a fund's investment advisor on more equal footing with the independent directors of a mutual fund company.

Shareholders of Phoenix Investment Partners of Hartford, Conn. have filed a class-action lawsuit against Phoenix Home Life Mutual Insurance Company, charging its offer to buy out the firm is far undervalued.

Mutual fund companies should take note of 401(k) plan sponsors' growing interest in co-mingled funds, a defined contribution alternative to mutual funds that offers lower fees, according to industry executives and consultants.

SEI Investments of Oaks, Pa. will introduce after-tax performance reporting for all SEI investor accounts in the fourth quarter of this year.

Calvert Group of Bethesda, Md. filed with the SEC Aug. 4 to offer the Calvert Social Investment Fund Technology Portfolio.

NEW YORK - The American Stock Exchange is close to filing a patent for an actively-managed exchange-traded fund, but the structure of such a fund is still a mystery, said Debbie Fuhr, a vice president with Morgan Stanley & Co. International of London, a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter of New York.