Subject Root Tag

NEW YORK - Mutual fund companies do not need to worry much about how well their directors are paid or whether they sit on multiple fund boards, said lawyers on a panel exploring "Litigation, Enforcement & Inspections" at a conference sponsored by the Practising Law Institute of New York recently.

American International Group (AIG) of New York will acquire a majority stake in John McStay Investment Counsel, an investment management company based in Dallas, for an undisclosed sum. The deal is expected to close in June.

Analytic Investors' four mutual fund portfolios have joined the UAM Funds family. Based in Los Angeles, Analytic Investors is a diversified asset management firm that specializes in quantitative investment techniques that make use of mathematical models. These models include variables that cover multiple aspects of a stock's value. The firm's four portfolios include: Analytic Enhanced Equity, Analytic Defensive Equity, Analytic Master Fixed Income and Analytic Short-Term Government.

Linklaters & Alliance, an international law firm based in Brussels, is offering a new Internet database, called Blue Flag Funds, which gives mutual fund companies information on starting investment products in other countries.

In response to the ample returns and risks associated with today's market, the Institute for Investment Management Consultants of Washington, D.C, has created software to help its members - investment managers to institutions and individuals - show their customers the risks inherent in their investment strategy.

Standard & Poor's of New York has created a new mutual fund division by merging three units. The units, Standard & Poor's Micropal, Standard & Poor's Fund Research and Standard & Poor's Managed Funds Ratings, will now be known as Standard & Poor's Fund Services. Sanford Bragg will become managing director of the new unit. The move is aimed at accelerating the company's global expansion, Bragg said.

McLeodUSA of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has selected MassMutual Retirement Services of Springfield, Mass., as the supplier for McLeod's $50 million, 4,000-participant 401(k) plan.

NEW YORK - The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering several amendments to the Investment Company Act to strengthen the role of independent directors of mutual fund companies, Paul Roye, the SEC's director of investment management, said last week. Roye spoke at a conference hosted by The Practising Law Institute of New York.

Berger Associates is expanding a joint partnership begun last year to add a retail technology fund to the Berger Funds lineup.

AIM Advisors of Houston plans to launch a fund that will invest in companies it expects will benefit from demographic, economic and lifestyle trends. The fund, to be called the AIM Dent Demographic Trends Fund and to be introduced in June, will be an all-cap growth fund modeled after the teachings of strategic consultant Harry S. Dent, Jr. Through his company, H.S. Dent Advisors, Dent will serve as sub-adviser to the fund.

Charles Schwab Investment Management of San Francisco last week introduced the Schwab Total Stock Market Index Fund. The fund is designed to track the performance of the U.S. stock market, as measured by the Wilshire 5000 Index. The index contains nearly every U.S. publicly-traded stock.

State Street Global Advisors of Boston has contracted with First Data Investors Services Group of Westborough, Mass., to run State Street's defined contribution service center in Minneapolis. There, State Street provides telephone service and daily record-keeping for 36 of its 297 defined contribution clients.

Capital Research & Management of Los Angeles last week introduced the New World Fund, a fund that will focus on emerging markets. Capital Research & Management is known as a conservative company and has opened only five new funds since 1990.

Americans pay scant attention to a future employer's 401(k) or other retirement savings plan when they accept a new position, a survey by Fidelity Investments of Boston has found.

Ford Motor Co. of Detroit has made Fidelity PortfolioPlanner, an online retirement tool sold by Fidelity Investments of Boston, available to all Ford employees. PortfolioPlanner helps 401(k) investors with retirement planning and asset allocation decisions, and gives them examples of model portfolios.

Compensation for independent mutual fund directors increased an average of nine percent last year with median pay at larger fund complexes at $66,000, according to a survey by Management Practice, a fund consulting firm in New York.

The mutual fund and securities industries are urging the SEC to delay and substantially revise proposed new rules which would set quality standards for transfer agents and broker/dealers.

North American Funds of Boston, has named Global Alliance Value Investors as the sub-advisor for its North American Equity Income Fund.

NewRiver Investor Communications of Watertown, Mass., has developed Prospectus Express, patent-pending software that would allow mutual fund companies to post prospectuses and other lengthy fund documents in a format that would allow investors to immediately view and retrieve those documents. Other prospectus software allows users to print out documents but not view them online. Prospectus Express also enables users to search within documents for keywords. Currently, that is not possible through the SEC's Edgar database.

First Trust Corp. of Denver has created a program whereby employers can offer employees as many as 2,000 mutual funds from 200 fund families for their 401(k), 403(b) or 457 savings plans. First Trust is calling the new program OptionsPlus.