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Capital Management Sciences (CMS) of Los Angeles, a division of Data Broadcasting Corporation, has added a new cash management capability to its BondEdge portfolio analytics software package.

Principal Financial Group of Des Moines announced that it will acquire Professional Pensions Incorporated (PPI) of East Haven, Conn.

Strong Retirement Plan Services of Milwaukee has announced that participants in the firm's 401(k) plans will now have Internet access to their accounts through a new tool called Strong NetConnect.

Paine Webber Group and the Yasuda Mutual Life Insurance Company are forming a joint venture to develop, sponsor and manage mutual funds and other retail asset management products in Japan. The Tokyo-based venture will be called Yasuda PaineWebber Mutual Fund Company. It will offer money market, reserved and capital guaranteed funds, 401(k) equivalent pension plans, mutual fund wrap accounts and other retail asset management products. The board of directors of the new company will consist of three senior executives from Yasuda and two from PaineWebber. Yasuda has been a shareholder in PaineWebber since 1987, and now holds about eight percent of the firm's outstanding stock. It is Japan's oldest life insurance company and the seventh-largest in assets.

Tocqueville Asset Management is the latest interim fund adviser to feel the heat as fund trustees increasingly flex their mutual fund governance muscles.

The BT Quantitative Equity Fund may be a fund marketer's dream - a new equity product that has an interesting story, no peers and a great track record.

Charles Schwab will not be wasting any time building on its new Canadian foothold to take on the bank owned firms that dominate the Canadian discount brokerage industry.

Intrepid Capital Corporation and Enviroq Corporation have reorganized, resulting in Enviroq Corporation, Institutional Asset Management and Capital Research Corporation becoming wholly-owned subsidiaries of Intrepid.

Aeltus Investment Management, an independently managed subsidiary of Aetna Retirement Services, is joining forces with First Data Investor Services Group to service mutual funds and variable insurance products.

Progressive Asset Management, which claims to be the first independent full service investment firm specializing in socially-responsible investing, and Paradox Holdings, the owner of Financial West Investment Group, have announced they have signed a letter of intent to form a strategic alliance. FWG is a broker/dealer with 60 offices and 300 registered representatives.

Regulators have stepped up pressure in recent weeks on mutual fund companies and those who sell funds regarding their costs and disclosure of those costs.

The SEC has sued a former money market fund portfolio manager for fraud, saying he misled investors about the value of derivatives he purchased for the funds.

Phoenix Investment Partners last week agreed to buy money manager Martin Zweig's mutual fund business, a transaction which provides cash for Zweig and new products for Phoenix.

The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) has stepped up its campaign against the Canadian government's 20 percent limit on foreign content in registered (retirement) plans, with the goal of getting the restrictions eased by next year. In the meantime, industry players continue to find creative ways around the content quota.

Oak Associates of Akron, Ohio has started the Red Oak Technology Select Fund, a non-diversified portfolio of common stocks of primarily technology companies. Red Oak joins White Oak Growth Stock Fund and Pin Oak Aggressive Stock Fund in Oak Associates' family of mutual funds.

Delaware Investments of Philadelphia announced the sale of its Unit Investment Trust (UIT) business to Nike Securities of Lisle, Illinois. Prior to the sale, Delaware supervised UITs with assets valued at about $200 million.

Charles Schwab has gained a foothold in the Canadian market. Schwab announced Dec. 14 it has acquired privately-owned Priority Brokerage and Porthmeor Securities, both of Toronto. Paul Bates, president and ceo of the two widely held firms, will stay on as president and ceo of the combined firm, to be renamed Charles Schwab Canada. David Pottruck, president and ceo of the San Francisco based parent, said Canada is an established market that represents immediate and long term opportunities for Schwab. The acquisition, for an undisclosed price, is subject to regulatory approval.

SEC examiners will conduct special audits - possibly as early as next month - of mutual fund companies and other investment advisers who may be having trouble meeting year 2000 programming targets.

Stein Roe & Farnham expects to be the first to offer a floating-rate bank loan fund in the no-load channel. The Stein Roe Floating Rate Income Fund is currently in a pre-subscription period which ends December 18. It will be offered to the general public soon after that.

Mutual funds seeking to reclaim assets from overseas companies which default on bonds may enjoy a moral victory but little financial satisfaction from an anticipated U.S. Supreme Court decision.