Mutual funds

Finding ways to reach shareholders with an appropriate message and choosing the medium to do so consumes the resources of many a fund company. Firms need to communicate bad news to shareholders in a gentle manner, trumpet the good news and economize the delivery of mandated disclosure information.

First came the big airline mergers. Now two Dallas RIAs that focus on airline pilots have combined as well.

State Street Corporation named Roger M. Stein chief analytics officer for State Street Global Exchange.

Bank of America Corp.’s traders fought off efforts by the firm in 2007 to include risky Alt-A mortgages in a securitization. That wasn’t enough to spare investors from being cheated, according to th

Views are mixed on the impact of the recent Securities and Exchange Commission decision to lift the general solicitation ban on private securities offerings.

Research conducted by ING U.S. underscores the growing role that retirement income planning continues to play in the readiness levels of working Americans. The study, Retirement Income Redefined, highlights some potential discrepancies in retirement planning ideologies and practices, and reinforces how retirement is being fundamentally redefined.

Edward Jones’s James Weddle and Robert Keenan of St. Bernard Financial Services Inc. were elected to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s Board of Governors at its annual meeting.

Northern Lights Distributors, announced the upcoming launch of an educational series to provide advisors with information detailing each step of the mutual fund distribution process.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is losing senior officials faster than it can replace them, raising concerns that the agency may struggle to maintain the aggressive pace set during its nearly two years of existence.

Flexible Plan Investments recently partnered (as sub-advisor) with Advisor Preferred to launch The Gold Bullion Strategy Fund (QGLDX), the industry's first gold bullion fund offered to retail investors through a mutual fund product, which began trading at $25 per share on July 8.

Janus announced some high-ranking executive changes recently.

Fidelity Investments surveyed customers with at least $250,000 in investable assets and the outcome was positive.

Wells Fargo has created two new directorship roles as it looks to enhance client recruiting and retention efforts.

Morgan Stanley and Co. has agreed to pay $100,000 to the New Jersey Bureau of Securities. This came after Bureau investigators found the company was in violation of state securities laws and regulations in its sale of non-traditional exchange-traded funds to investors.

Fund sponsors have long debated the relative merits of building, buying or outsourcing fund administration technology. As sponsors face more and more data-driven demands from regulators and investors, there is increased pressure to adopt new efficient technologies for fund administration process such as expense payments and budgeting, regulatory reporting and financial reporting. While there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the "build, buy or outsource" question a mix of cost pressures, resources, reporting requirements and technological advances have tipped the balance in favor of "buy" and "outsource."

These are stressful times for the mutual fund industry. An obvious statement, but one authored by a colleague ten years ago. Even more interesting is that the trends cited then are the same concerns that we hear from clients today. So what has changed?

The members of Generation Y, also known as "millennials," have vastly different backgrounds and expectations than the generations before them. Today's 20-somethings can't remember a time without smartphones or the ability to access the information most important to them whenever they need it. It would be easy for some mutual fund managers to assume that millennials lack the same mindset or appetite for risk when it comes to investing and saving than previous generations, and view attracting them to mutual funds as a Herculean task. However, both of these assumptions are false. If managers embrace the technology and engagement with companies they trust that millennials have grown up with, they can successfully grow their assets by appealing to this relatively untapped investor base.

Former U.S. Senate aides Michael Piwowar and Kara M. Stein won confirmation as members of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The current SEC chairman Mary Jo White was also confirmed to a full term that expires June 5, 2019.

The safety of its employees is top of mind with T.Rowe Price executives. So much so, that the company’s CEO James A.C. Kennedy is weighing whether to remain at its current Pratt Street headquarters in Baltimore.

Legg Mason announced that it has appointed Dennis M. Kass, an industry veteran, as non-executive Chairman of the Board.