Mutual funds

WASHINGTON — With lawmakers intent on sending a final regulatory reform bill to President Obama by July 4, much of the legwork is already happening behind the scenes on how to tackle a host of unresolved issues, including a proposed swaps ban, a stringent capital requirement, interchange fee regulation and a consumer protection agency.

Vercie Lark has joined DST Systems as chief information officer, overseeing the company’s enterprise information technology and data center operations.

As Loomis, Sayles Vice Chairman Dan Fuss told MME last month: “When interest rates eventually rise, it will become our entire focus. I’ve prepared for this well in advance “(see “Fuss: Interest Rate Policy Will Shape Recovery,” MME 5/3/2010).

One of the great aftershocks felt in the wake of the financial meltdown has been a fairly loud drumbeat against Harry Markowitz’s modern portfolio theory.

An "empowered investor base" insisting on more transparency and liquidity from managers, as well as absolute returns and uncorrelated investment strategies, has led to a spike in demand for alternative mutual funds, a report concluded.

JPMorgan, consistently one of the top municipal bond underwriters, has been responding to increased appetite in the market recently by expanding its retail networks, marketing taxable munis for international distribution, and bulking up its public finance staff.

IRS Probes 401(k) Compliance

LPL, the largest independent broke/-dealer, filed S-1 forms with the Securities Exchange Commission Friday to become a public corporation.

If your clients want to invest globally, and according to their Catholic values, you now have one more option to offer.

Outflows were a mere $156.7 million the week before.

Tax-exempt money market funds shed $3.91 billion in the week ending May 31, finishing with total net assets of $352.92 billion, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com. That was a significantly steeper decline than the previous week, in which the funds saw $156.7 million of outflows and ended with $356.83 billion.

To attract more business from small businesses, Bank of America Merrill Lynch announced Thursday it relaunched a retirement services platform for companies with fewer than 100 employees.

WASHINGTON — Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Warren Buffett warned a panel investigating the causes of the financial crisis Wednesday that states and localities may face “terrible” financial distress in the next five to 10 years that in turn could lead some to look to the federal government for bailouts.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney is intensifying its campaign to increase its wealth management and private banking footprint nationally as it hired in New York and Miami as well as a planned expansion in Charlotte, N.C.

As many as 11,000 wirehouse advisers may be on the move, according to a report by Aite Group in Boston.

A former Merrill Lynch broker is out one red Ferrari.

U.S. corporations have hearty cash flows. Consumers are inclined to keep spending. And European banks have the means to weather a sovereign debt default, according MFS Investment Management.

Long-term mutual funds lost money in every category, except for bonds, for a total of $16.6 billion walking out the door in the week ended May 26, the ICI said.

Investors pulled $16.6 billion from long-term mutual funds in the week ended May 26, the Investment Company Institute said Wednesday. It was the second week of outflows since mid-May, reversing the previous 57 straight weeks of inflows. Long-term funds lost $9.9 billion in the week ended May 12 and managed to take in $4.3 billion the following week ended May 19.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority are warning investors to beware of stock scams that promise easy profits from cleanup efforts related to the catastrophic BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.