Investment funds

A group of Democratic lawmakers has introduced legislation that would impose a tax on Wall Street securities transactions.

Managers of 529 college-savings plans have always competed on fees, but the latest round of the bidding war promises to be the most intense.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is working on considerable 12b-1 reform for 2010 that could go beyond mere disclosure or a more appropriate name for the fees, Chairman Mary Schapiro told the Consumer Federation of America’s 21st Annual Financial Services Conference. One recent suggestion for reforming the fees was to rename them “marketing and fund promotion fees.”

Great-West Retirement Services has won New Hampshire’s 457 account, serving 5,800 state employees with more than $170 million in assets.

Morningstar has started publishing credit ratings for about 100 of the largest U.S. companies. Over the next year, it plans to produce credit ratings for up to 1,000 companies currently covered by its equity analyst team. The ratings are available for free for institutional equity research clients at its website.

Matthews International Capital Management has launched the Matthews China Dividend Fund, a mutual fund that will invest exclusively in dividend-paying stocks and convertible securities of Chinese companies that are well-positioned to grow future dividends.

OppenheimerFunds Retirement Services announced new resources Wednesday to help 401(k) plan participants, sponsors and advisers navigate difficult market cycles and a constantly evolving marketplace.

A majority of brokers and advisers support and understand key elements of the fiduciary standard, a survey of nearly 900 professionals by SEI Investments found. Eighty-six percent of advisers and 53% of brokers agree with the statement that, “All financial professionals who give investment and financial advice should be required to meet the fiduciary standard.”

John Hancock Retirement Plan Services launched an enhanced website for financial representatives to help them support clients and grow their business. The site has improved navigation, updated materials and tools for creating reports for prospects and clients. The site also makes it easy for advisers to compare and contract Hancock investment options.

Five Canadian investors have filed a class-action lawsuit in Ontario Superior Court against five mutual fund companies that settled over market-timing, claiming they are owed hundreds of millions of dollars in additional damages. The five investment firms—IG Investment Management, CI Investments, Franklin Templeton, AGF Investments and AIC—settled with regulators for a total of $205.6 million in restitution.

The Spectrem Millionaire Investor Confidence Index rose five points in November to minus 10, putting it in neutral territory for the first time in nearly two years. Likewise, the Spectrem Affluent Investor Confidence Index, measuring the investment confidence of households with $500,000 or more investable assets, advanced three points to minus four, also bringing it back into neutral territory for the first time in two years.

Between the market rally and 401(k) investors’ steady contributions, balances are higher than what they were before the financial crisis hit, according to a Vanguard report, “Recovery in 401(k) Balances,” based on an analysis of the 1.7 million investors that Vanguard serves. What’s more, despite the intense scrutiny on target-date funds, some of which dramatically lagged their benchmarks in 2008, portfolios invested solely in target-date funds did better than others.

Americans are becoming more realistic about retirement, with 40% of older Baby Boomers currently eligible for Social Security now planning to work a few more years to increase their savings and reach higher Social Security payout thresholds, Charles Schwab’s quarterly retirement pulse survey found.

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed the dismissal of Jeremy Braden v. Wal-Mart Stores by the District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

Fidelity Investments has promoted Jacques Perold from chief operating officer of its asset management unit to chief of the $1.4 trillion division. Meanwhile, Michael Wilens, the former head, has moved over to the retirement unit as head of client management, reporting to Abigail Johnson, head.

Fidelity Investments is planning to launch a mutual fund focused on companies that will benefit from strong Chinese consumer growth, and famed portfolio manager Anthony Bolton is returning to the company after two years in retirement to run it.

State Street has signed an agreement to acquire Mourant International Finance Administration for an undisclosed amount of cash. Based in Jersey in the Channel Islands, Mourant specializes in fund administration for alternative investments. The deal marks a continued expansion into alternative servicing for State Street. Mourant has $170 billion in assets under administration and 650 employees in locations including Dublin, Singapore and New York.

Increasingly positive media coverage of consumer spending boosted the Dow Jones Economic Sentiment Indicator to 38.3 in November, up 1.4 points from a reading of 36.9 in October.

Forty percent of employers surveyed by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans said they believe the worst of the economic crisis is over. Twenty-seven percent said they did not think we are out of the woods, and 33% were neutral.

Putnam Investments is counting on its client servicing capabilities to help transform its defined contribution business into an industry leader, according to the head of that business.