More than 110,000 people working in finance in the U.S. have lost their jobs so far this year, but that could nearly double to more than 200,000 in the final weeks of the year, the Anniston Star reports.

Stressing that the reorganization is not motivated by the financial crisis but a strong desire to improve accountability and, with that, performance, Putnam Investments Chief Executive Officer Robert Reynolds announced the firm is doing away with team-managed equity mutual funds. Instead, those funds will be run by single portfolio managers.

The financial turmoil in the markets is far from over, and mutual fund firms can expect assets to continue to decline further, investors to remain skittish, and regulators to be reactive well into 2009, experts say.

Referring to today’s stock and corporate prices as bargain basement, the chief executive officer of Aberdeen Asset Management of the U.K. said he is interested in purchasing other companies, particularly hedge funds-of-funds and private equity firms, Reuters reports.

“We have plenty of cash and investments on our balance sheet. I think we are in a good position to make acquisitions.” That was a recent remark by Morningstar CEO Joe Mansueto to Reuters. Morningstar has $309.6 million in cash and investments on its balance sheet.

Speaking before students at MIT, billionaire investor George Soros predicted that the number of hedge funds could shrink by as many as two-thirds, the Ottowa Citizen reports.

Banks and other financial companies that are willing to stomach a few more quarters of volatility could find themselves well positioned to acquire wealth management companies or talent, according to analysts and industry executives.

The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the largest financial clearinghouse in the U.S., is in talks to merge with its European rival LCH.Clearnet in a deal worth approximately $950 million.

The credit crisis fueled a substantial 33% increase in asset management mergers and acquisitions in the third quarter, compared to 3Q07, Jefferies Putnam Lovell announced Tuesday. There were 69 M&A deals across the globe, up from 52 a year earlier.

Morningstar announced Thursday is has acquired Fundamental Data Ltd. of the UK, a closed-end fund data provider based in London, for $19 million, subject to post-closing adjustments.

Following Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch, the latter’s chairman and chief executive officer, John Thain, will reportedly remain with the merged entity as head of global banking, securities and wealth management.

When Wachovia Corp. completes the sale of its banking operation to Citigroup Inc., it plans to remain a public company with two main subsidiaries—Wachovia Securities, the nation's third-largest brokerage, and its proprietary investment arm, Evergreen Asset Management.

Evergreen Investments announced Tuesday that its parent, Wachovia Corp., will purchase Lehman Brothers debt held in three of its money market mutual funds: the Evergreen Money Market Fund, Evergreen Institutional Money Market Fund and Evergreen Prime Cash Management Fund.

Private equity firms Bain Capital Partners and Hellman & Friedman acquired Neuberger Berman Monday for $2.15 billion, with the two firms holding equal positions in Neuberger, the firm’s portfolio managers given a “significant stake” and the deal expected to close early next year.

Jeffrey Gundlach, chief investment officer of TCW Group, ticked off a host of cataclysmic forecasts for the financial services industry in a client conference call Wednesday that he titled “No Market for Old Men,” MarketWatch reports.

John Thain, chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch, said the reaction of his firm’s “thundering herd” of more than 16,000 financial advisers to the Bank of America sale has been almost 100% positive.

With Japanese households worth more than $14 trillion, and half of that in cash or postal accounts, Manulife Financial Corp. has decided to enter the nation’s mutual fund market.

Anxious to do business in the world’s third-largest economy, where the population is aging, The Hartford is expanding into Germany.

Scotiabank has agreed to pay $15 million to acquire a 33% interest in a new mutual fund company that is being formed under the auspices of Bank of Beijing.

The chairman of Credit Suisse Group's alternative investments business said that his unit plans an international expansion for the recently acquired Asset Management Finance Corp., using joint ventures to enter new regions and sectors.Chairman Brian Finn said that by early next year Credit Suisse needs to put some Asset Management Finance executives internationally in cities like London or Zurich and eventually in Asia, possibly in Singapore or Hong Kong.He discussed the plans in an interview last week, after the Zurich firm bought 80% of the New York investment manager from National Bank Financial of Canada for $384 million of stock.Finn said that he hopes to have some international customers for Asset Management Finance by late next year."We think that there is a big global opportunity," Finn said. "We have developed a lot of joint ventures in Latin America, China, and the Middle East, but as a general matter as we look at investment managers in the U.S., we think the next few deals will be in more-developed markets."