Investment funds

AUSTIN, Texas - New 403(b) regulations are coming, whether or not plan sponsors and vendors are ready for the changes.

In another sign of the difficulties facing the financial services industry, Camulos Capital has told its investors that if they keep nearly $2 billion with the $2.5 billion hedge fund for the next year, the fund will reduce its fee by 75 basis points to 1.25%, The Wall Street Journal reports. And if the fund makes money between Oct. 1 and the end of 2010, it will reduce its share of profits to 10%, rather than the standard 20%.

Bob Tuszynski has joined UMB Fund Services as senior vice president and director of distribution services. One of his key responsibilities is to market “Total Distribution,” which helps fund companies pinpoint their most profitable sales intermediaries through customer relationship management. UMB also offers other marketing and sales distribution support services.

Although Roth 401(k) features became effective Jan. 1, 2006, few employers immediately implemented them, since they were new and recordkeepers were still developing systems to accommodate the new feature.

The unified managed account (UMA) market’s rapid growth will not continue without greater standardization and automation, says a Dover Financial Research report issued Wednesday and commissioned by Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC).

Evergreen Investments of Boston, Wachovia Corp.'s asset management arm, announced Sept. 4 that it has closed its family of fund of funds.

By increasing the number of alternative products and strategies it offers, Mellon Capital Management Corp. has generated inflows in the past three years, despite difficult market conditions.

PIMCO has named Mohamed El-Erian chief executive officer, a position he currently shares as co-CEO with Bill Thompson, who will be retiring at the end of the year.

Pioneer Investments has selected Brian E. Stack as manager of the Pioneer Growth Opportunities Fund. A 21-year veteran of the mutual fund industry, Stack has specialized in small- and mid-cap growth.

The number of affluent households in the United States has decreased, according to initial research from the annual Affluent Market Research Program by TNS, a marketing company based in New York.

Currency hedge funds reported an 0.11% loss in July, according to the Parker FX Index.

Pacific Investment Management Co. will add an actively managed bond exchange-traded fund to its current ETF lineup, and perhaps other types of active ETFs, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Generation X millionaires give nearly twice as much to charity on average compared to older generations, according to a new survey.

In the week ended Tuesday, investors withdrew $11.34 billion from money market mutual funds, according to data from iMoneyNet.com.

To help develop its financial system, China is going to support the launch of additional hedge funds, the South China Morning Post reports. However, Bejing is not going to give them a free hand; the government promises to police the funds and offer governing oversight.

What a difference a year makes. Just about this time last year, investors were clamoring to get into some of the best-performing hedge funds. But with some of the biggest names in the business down 7%, 25% in some cases, year to date, hedge fund managers fear that their investors are gearing up for massive withdrawals come the Sept. 30 deadline for year-end notices, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Japanese investors are increasingly flocking to mutual funds that pay out monthly incomes or dividends, with such funds now accounting for 55.7% of all of the nation’s assets in funds, or $303 billion, Nikkei newswire reports.

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.

Millions of retirees who are turning 70-1/2 are forced to take money out of their tax-deferred IRAs or 401(k)s each year, or pay a stiff penalty to the government.

Goldman Sachs has gained approval to launch mutual funds in India, joining AIG and JPMorgan, Reuters reports.Adam Broder will lead Goldman Sachs Asset Management Company (India) Pvt Ltd, with Prashant Khemka taking the chief investment officer post, according to a statement from Goldman."India is one of the most important countries to our Asian business and we have a long-term strategic commitment to this market," Broder said.According to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India, the country's 35 member funds industry managed about $125 billion at the end of July.