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Thirty-four percent of investment management companies share customer data with non-affiliated parties, indicating that investment companies may have to hold these partners up to strict confidentiality standards, according to a survey by KPMG LLP of New York.

The money management affiliate of the Pitcairn Trust Co. of Jenkintown, Pa., has filed a registration statement to offer a lineup of nine mutual funds.

The Investment Counsel Association of America of Washington D.C., has proposed a code of ethics for investment advisers regarding their contributions to politicians.

It might be called the triple crown of regulatory malfeasance.

Executives at the Pioneer Group of Boston are hoping that the firm's planned sale to one of Italy's largest banks will expand Pioneer's distribution abroad and its services in the U.S.

BOSTON - The SEC's goal of providing final rules regarding director independence by this summer could be in jeopardy.

In Baltimore, a city where Legg Mason and T. Rowe Price Associates are the standards in money management, a lesser know fund family is trying to make some noise.

Munder Capital Management of Birmingham, Mich. filed a registration statement May 9 for a new closed-end Internet fund, the Munder @Vantage Fund.

Aegon USA/Transamerica of Los Angeles has formed a new investment management company, principally to give equity interest in the new company to the portfolio managers and other key executives formerly with Transamerica Investment Services, said Richard Latzer, chief executive officer of the new investment advisor, Transamerica Investment Management.

Dreyfus Corp. agreed May 10 to pay nearly $2.7 million to settle charges related to how it allocated and disclosed its practices on initial public offerings for the Dreyfus Aggressive Growth Fund.

A former SEC lawyer and the Consumer Federation of America are employing a little-used tactic that could compel disclosures by fund companies unheard of in recent years, according to fund industry lawyers.

The SEC is considering changes in a proposal - strongly opposed by some fund companies - designed to stop firms from contributing to government officials in an effort to win business managing government employee pension plans.

TORONTO - AMVESCAP's $1.8 billion deal to acquire Trimark Financial of Toronto, the biggest fund-company takeover in Canadian history, changes the industry's pecking order and accelerates the trend toward increasing foreign ownership.

The Pioneer Group of Boston issued a proxy statement last week saying the firm had received a second round of bids from prospective buyers and urging shareholders to support the existing board in a proxy vote May 16, to insure that a newly elected board does not jeopardize a sale.

Two mutual fund shareholders are challenging the constitutionality of a two-month-old Maryland law designed to define what makes a mutual fund director independent.

The SEC's office of compliance, inspections and examinations, in a letter May 1 to investment advisers, has identified 12 areas of potentially troubling practices that the SEC expects to review during exams. The letter, which largely tracks speeches top compliance office officials have made this year, outlines advisers' duties regarding advertising, personal trading, soft dollar disclosure and other issues. It also offers examples of instances of violations the office has found.

In the bull market, investors have stampeded to aggressive mutual funds. But will investors flock to bearish mutual funds with the same enthusiasm if the markets face a sustained bear market? That is a bet some fund advisers are taking - with mixed results.

The Canadian fund industry is lobbying against new securities regulations that require mutual fund prospectuses to compare past performance to market benchmarks. The mandatory references to market indexes are among the more controversial aspects of the legislation, National Instrument 81-101. The sweeping new rule took effect on Feb. 1 and is coming into force gradually this year as fund companies revise their prospectuses and introduce new funds.

Mutual funds and custodians have until next year to comply with new federal securities rules designed to insure that fund securities held abroad are properly safeguarded.

NEW YORK - Online investment calculators and research on the Internet are augmenting rather than threatening the livelihood of financial advisors, according to a survey by the Forum for Investor Advice of New York.