Mutual funds

The board of trustees for the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund has voted to lower the minimum asset requirement for its Charitable Investment Advisor Program (CIAP) to $250,000 from $1 million.

With births declining and medical advances extending life spans, the population of people age 65 and older in the U.S. will rise from 13% today to 20% by 2030 and 26% by 2050, the Census Bureau announced Tuesday.

Van Eck Global has launched the Van Eck Multi-Manager Alternatives Fund, a mutual fund designed to give investors exposure to a variety of investment strategies, including absolute-return and hedge style strategies.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is asking brokers and registered investment advisers to provide it with information on the sale of leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds between Oct. 1, 2008 and March 30 to investors who held them for 10 business days or longer. The authority is looking for all sales and marketing materials, customer communications and complaints, arbitration claims and written supervisory procedures regarding the sale of such funds.

Sustainable Asset Management has launched the SAM Sustainable Global Active Fund, an all-cap international equity fund that relies on SAM’s research methodology that takes economic, social and environmental factors into consideration.

Russell Investments has launched the Russell Frontier Markets Equity Fund, which will invest primarily in emerging markets at the forefront of development. However, the fund also has the license to invest some money in companies stationed in more developed nations but that have a significant proportion of operations in frontier markets.

A new website launched by a financial journalist turned investor advocate slams the mutual fund industry in an 11-part series for charging investors too much through revenue-sharing agreements and 12b-1 fees.

Financial planners’ high-net-worth clients are asking for guidance on investing and spending, as they reassess their holdings following the devastation of 2008, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants found in a survey.

Financial Engines has launched a Retirement Checkup service for near-retirees age 50 and older that finds the outlook is not as grim as people might think. Only modest increases in savings and a slight delay in retirement can put near-retirees back on track.

One-Third of Funds Still Sitting on Cash: While there have been reports of portfolio managers easing back into stocks, one-third of them are still sitting on record amounts of cash. Until the housing market stabilizes and corporate earnings become strong, they say, they are not convinced the market will deliver consistently strong returns, even though the S&P 500 has risen some 40% since its March 9 low.

While the financial services industry largely embraced most of the Obama administration's financial services overhaul, the idea of removing money funds' $1 net asset value is causing widespread concern in the mutual fund industry.

Meade Joins AlphaMetrix In Client Relations Group

WASHINGTON - With 47% of 401(k) plans now using automatic enrollment, the programs have helped get millions of new workers enrolled to start saving early for retirement, but industry experts say the automatic nature of these plans needs to extend to helping "hands-off" investors when they change jobs.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined seven firms a total of $184,500, including $80,000 for Tulsa-based BOSC Inc., for failing to timely or accurately report municipal securities, unfairly pricing bonds, as well as other muni and non-muni rule violations.

At the hearing on target-date funds that the Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange Commission held in Washington last Thursday, the focus was on better disclosure of holdings.

WASHINGTON - Many investment industry leaders are worried that the proposed 401(k) fee disclosure regulations currently being pushed through Congress will actually increase the fees investors pay and increase their confusion.

UAT Inc. has developed a 401(k) tool for sponsors offering target-date funds that will allow them to scrutinize the holdings and glidepath of the funds.

There is a big disconnect between employers’ perceptions of workers’ understanding of 401(k) fees and the reality, according to a survey by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies and Harris Interactive.

After active managers fell in lockstep with their benchmarks and all of the major indexes in 2008, many institutional investors are paring back their investments with active managers in favor of low-cost passive alternatives, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Nearly one-quarter, or 23%, of employers have eliminated 401(k) matches, according to a study by CFO Research Services for Charles Schwab. And 35% don’t expect to reverse the elimination, according to a separate survey by Watson Wyatt.