Law and regulation

NEW YORK - The freewheeling days for hedge funds may be numbered.

WASHINGTON - Volatile market conditions and the credit crisis have put the hard brakes on new hedge funds. The number of hedge funds launched in the first quarter was the lowest for a quarter since 2000, while fund liquidations increased from a year earlier.

"I cheated my investors because I was afraid to admit my failure. I did not want the world to think I was not good enough and I did not want my family to see me as a failure."

In light of Legg Mason Inc.’s recent struggles and dropping stock price, the company has slashed the pay of CEO Mark Fetting and its founder Raymond “Chip” Mason, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox announced this week that the SEC will be conducting an internal inquiry into the structure of its current disclosure system, creating a “fundamental rethinking of financial disclosure.”

Recent hikes in oil prices and far-too-turbulent markets may have caused unwanted stress for investors, but Steven Lehman thinks he might be able to provide a glimpse of hope to pessimists by ditching the traditional pattern of investing domestically, according to The Wall Street Journal.

For the next few days, 1,500 fund managers from across the nation will gather in Chicago for the 2008 Morningstar Investment Conference, with the hopes of hearing new ideas and investment strategies that can help them reengage their clients in investments.

Financial service group PPM America recently announced its promotion of Jim Young to chief investment officer.As CIO, Young will oversee all portfolio management, all public and fixed income functions, and will head the credit research group and structured finance teams. In addition, Young will continue to carry out his existing responsibilities as chairman of the firm’s credit approval committee.“The company’s management team relies on constant collaboration and an open exchange of ideas in order to achieve our mission, which is to be indispensable to our clients," said PPMA’s President and CEO Leandra Kres. "Jim has been an integral member of the team for 11 years, and I am confident that his expanded responsibilities will allow him to have an even greater impact on the success of the organization going forward.”Kres previously held the CIO position in addition to her executive responsibilities.PPMA manages approximately $78 billion in assets of mutual funds, unit trusts, and insurance companies. It is a subsidiary of Prudential plc, a company integrated in the United Kingdom.

The Supreme Court's recent decision in LaRue v DeWolff to permit workers in 401(k) plans to sue administrators for high fees will inevitably lead to lower fees-and the end of the retail mutual fund industry's dominance of the market. That's the strong opinion of widely quoted, and frequent financial TV guest Ric Edelman.

NEW YORK - Hedge funds are notorious for being secretive, private investment pools, but the time has finally come for them to become more transparent in order to capture the billions of dollars floating around alpha-seeking institutional investors' pockets.

The recent mortgage market crisis has opened a Pandora's box of white-collar cases probed by the U.S. attorney’s Eastern District office.

Goldman Sachs and Deloitte & Touche LLP announced they had finalized plans to unload a portion of a $7 billion structured investment vehicle, which was set up by U.K. hedge fund manager Cheyne Capital Management LLP, according to a recent report by Bloomberg.

When an employee leaves a firm, can they take their client list with them to their new job?

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in LaRue v DeWolff to permit workers in 401(k) plans to sue administrators for high fees will inevitably lead to lower fees—and the end of the retail mutual fund industry’s dominance of the market. That’s the strong opinion of widely quoted, and frequent financial TV guest Ric Edelman.

As JPMorgan Chase begins to remove the Bear Stearns name from its buildings, the firm is taking the opportunity to enhance its own brand identity, The New York Times writes.

Peter Suhr Joins CFG As Enterprise EVP

Fidelity Investments is having one of its weakest first five months in recent history. Only 39% of Fidelity's equity funds are in the company of the top half of their peers, whereas 64% were a year ago, according to Morningstar.

The passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act dramatically increased the volume of materials corporate executives and boards have to review, and staying on top of this mountain of paperwork can be overwhelming.

Japan’s domestic asset management reports are not disclosing the way they vote on various resolutions brought up at annual shareholders meetings, according to the Nikkei Report. That disclosure could significantly improve corporate governance.

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.