Mutual funds

A significant number of 401(k) assets held by workers who leave their jobs has been left behind in the old plans, Charles Schwab found in an analysis of the activity of workers since the first quarter of 2008.

Mary Schapiro, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, bridled against the proposal that the government create a consumer financial protection agency. Evidently, the SEC wants to maintain its regulatory control over mutual funds.

People investing for retirement in mutual funds should not pay capital gains taxes until those shares are sold, according to Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota). To keep retirement savings earning more money for a longer period of time, the senators have introduced the GROWTH (Generating Retirement Ownership Through Long-Term Holding) Act, which the Investment Company Institute supports.

Seven out of 10 money managers surveyed believe the world economy will improve within the next 12 months, and already, they are putting their money back to work in the stock market, as they are bullish on corporate profits, according to the Merrill Lynch survey of fund managers for May.

The Obama administration is considering forming a regulatory commission to protect consumers against predatory sales and practices by mutual funds, mortgage lenders and credit card companies.

More actively managed funds-of-funds and mutual fund wrap programs are investing in such safe, low-cost vehicles as index funds and exchange-traded funds, The Globe and Mail reports.

Even though Fidelity’s mutual funds are performing strongly, with 62% in the top half of their category, the firm is looking for a new chief investment officer, Reuters reports. By comparison, in 2008, only 36% of the firm’s funds were in the top half.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is holding a public seminar on June 10 to help companies and preparers comply with new financial reporting rules.

Archer to Head Asia Office For American Century

Few investors changed their saving or investing habits in 2008, Hewitt Associates reports, citing data from 2.7 million participants. However, equity fund allocations reached record lows.

Investors Held Steady During Turbulence

Advisers are showing signs of optimism after months of market doldrums, according to a new survey by broker/dealer Securities America of 180 of its top producers.

The investment community is hopeful that with a little tweaking, target-date funds could be the ideal solution for getting apathetic investors into an age-appropriate asset allocation.

With pension plans headed for virtual extinction, the 401(k) will inevitably become the sole qualified retirement savings vehicle in the nation, and as such, the defined contribution model must be vastly improved, speakers at the Investment Company Institute's General Membership Meeting in Washington said.

Those hoping for a return to the good old days of self-regulated, self-correcting markets need to face reality: Those days are over.

Half of the parents that OppenheimerFunds recently surveyed don’t believe that college is as affordable as it once was, and 43% have saved less than $5,000 for their children’s college education, and another 13% have saved nothing at all. Only 20% have save $20,000 or more.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has begun sending investors checks from the $267 million fair funds distribution fund that came out of a 2006 settlement with Bear Stearns over late trading and market timing in mutual funds.

Investors’ general inertia has caused most of them to stick with their 401(k)s. On the one hand, it’s a good thing they aren’t trading in and out of their retirement funds, but their lack of interest is hurting them, Dow Jones reports.

Putnam Investments has launched the Putnam Capital Spectrum Fund and the Putnam Equity Spectrum Fund, two funds that will invest in a full spectrum of underpriced securities of leveraged companies, including stocks, bonds, bank loans and convertible securities.

A line has been drawn in the sand, and anyone with an interest in banking stocks will have to pick a side.