Investment strategies

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. urged Congress to finish legislation that would create a regulator for government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and financially shore up the two mortgage financing giants.

The deadline for entries to Money Management Executive’s Sixth Annual Fund Operations Awards has been extended through Thursday, July 31, so you still have plenty of time to enter.

If elected, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama plans to increase the capital gains tax between five and 10 percentage points, from its current rate of 15%. The effect of Obama’s possible candidacy, along with his tax program, has already sent concern throughout the financial world, the Newark Star-Ledger reports. Some financial planners are advising investors to take advantage of the current lower rates and to drop some mutual funds and stocks.

The Money Management Institute has selected Cheryl Nash as co-chair of its technology and operations committee. She is a SVP at CheckFree Investment Services, now a division of Fiserv, and will join Kevin Miller, SVP at Dreyfus, as co-chair.

The growing popularity of fee-based advice is prompting mutual fund companies and other investment platform providers to upgrade the capabilities they offer advisers at banks and elsewhere.

Before Dennis Ferro retires as chief executive officer at Evergreen Investments, Wachovia Corp.'s investment management arm, he says that he wants to expand its alternative investment capabilities and its international distribution.

Mutual fund companies and other financial services firms continue to battle one another for wealth management talent even though companies are forced to pay hefty salaries that crimp profits.

For professionals on Wall Street, the June jobs number confirmed what many already knew: The financial services segment of the U.S. economy lost jobs last month. Some observers say the pace of jobs lost on Wall Street could exceed all other previous downturns faced by banks and brokerages since World War II.

This week, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission decided that effective Aug. 1, mutual fund advertisements will no longer need to be pre-approved.

Back in 2005, the chances that Amvescap, now Invesco, would make a 360-degree turnaround seemed virtually impossible, but with a little bit of time and the addition of Martin Flanagan as chief executive officer, the unlikely actually occurred, Institutional Investor reports.

WELLESLEY, Mass.—Mutual fund wholesaling isn’t what it used to be. Today, highly sophisticated gatekeepers at broker/dealers go by the name of “Fund Selection Units,” where they hold mutual funds up to a whole new set of demanding criteria akin to the rigors that pension plans put investments choices through.

As the tax debate begins between Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain, many investors and tax advisors say capital gains taxes will increase no matter what the outcome is this coming November, The Wall Street Journal reports. Senator Obama seeks to increase the current capital gains rate 5% or more for families making over $250,000.

Friends and family members of New York college-bound students can now make contributions to a student's 529 college savings plan, thanks to a change in New York State law that mirrors similar programs in other states.

Fidelity Investments has hired Michael Wilens, a senior executive at Thomson Reuters, to head the mutual fund company’s $1.5 trillion asset management division.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a pair of initiatives designed to strengthen its position in the asset management market.

Including lift-outs and partial deals, investment firms have shelled out more than $50 billion so far this year to acquire mutual fund companies and other asset management firms, in a record 241 deals this year, according to Jefferies Putnam Lovell, a division of Jefferies.

Randy Takian, head of strategy and development for Morgan Stanley’s hedge fund and alternative investment products, will head its investment management unit’s retail and intermediary business, according to Dow Jones.

Hedge Fund Managers Have Rough Month

Consumer confidence in the economy, including stocks, bonds, mortgages, credit cards and structured products, is dropping, but experts say consumers need to stay invested in a fully diversified portfolio of mutual funds for their own good and for the good of the economy.

The wealth management unit of Citigroup Inc. has agreed to buy Legg Mason Inc.’s managed account trading and technology operations.