Mutual funds

While American Funds and Vanguard raked in $74 billion apiece in 2007, Fidelity Investments netted $2 billion, according to Strategic Insight data. It was the first time in 20 years Fidelity didn’t rank in the top 25 fund houses in terms of net sales.

Anxious to do business in the world’s third-largest economy, where the population is aging, The Hartford is expanding into Germany.

Bill Miller, manager of the Legg Mason Value Trust, may have made a poor gamble last summer, when he expanded his holdings of Freddie Mac, 14.6 million shares of which he first bought in the fourth quarter of last year, by an additional 30 million shares, The Baltimore Sun reports.

Julian Pick, co-manager of two Janus Group international mutual funds, is leaving at the end of the month, Rocky Mountain News reports.

The boomerang effect of the financial crisis and eye-popping oil prices are proving more difficult than even the most skilled mutual fund managers can handle, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Whereas financial advisers have long been known for avoiding index funds, and their newer, exchange-traded fund brethren, for fear of not appearing to warrant their fees for providing active advice, that is changing, The Wall Street Journal. Advisers are beginning to see the merits of ETFs’ low fees, tax efficiencies and narrow slices of the market—and instead of leaving it to mutual fund portfolio managers to create a basket of diversified funds, many advisers are now driving asset allocation themselves by creating a basket of ETFs.

The Pension Protection Act is proving to help people better prepare for retirement by easing employers’ liabilities for automatically enrolling workers in retirement savings plans. But millions of middle- or lower-income Americans are still underserved, particularly if they work for small employers that don’t offer a 401(k) plan, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Social Investment Forum Recruits Two PR Execs

Taking dead-aim at Middle America, Allstate Corp. has added guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits to its target funds.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has widened its ongoing auction rate securities (ARS) probe with a sweep letter aimed primarily at sellers, rather than lead managers, of the illiquid instruments.

New York A.G. Probing Fidelity, Goldman Links

MINNEAPOLIS - Sen. John McCain is the better choice for the financial services industry not for what he would do as president, but rather for what he would refrain from doing, GOP lawmakers said here this week during the Republican National Convention.

An obscure book about mutual funds has begun to arouse the ire of the industry.

With the oncoming wave of Baby Boomers about to strain Social Security, Medicare, long-term care and families, mutual fund fees are going to continue to be in the crosshairs of class-action litigants, 401(k) plan sponsors, retail investors, regulators, legislators and even the courts.

AUSTIN, Texas - Making sure your company's 403(b) retirement plan is in compliance by Jan. 1, 2009 can be a daunting task, especially if you haven't gotten started yet.

AUSTIN, Texas - New 403(b) regulations are coming, whether or not plan sponsors and vendors are ready for the changes.

Bob Tuszynski has joined UMB Fund Services as senior vice president and director of distribution services. One of his key responsibilities is to market “Total Distribution,” which helps fund companies pinpoint their most profitable sales intermediaries through customer relationship management. UMB also offers other marketing and sales distribution support services.

Although Roth 401(k) features became effective Jan. 1, 2006, few employers immediately implemented them, since they were new and recordkeepers were still developing systems to accommodate the new feature.

The unified managed account (UMA) market’s rapid growth will not continue without greater standardization and automation, says a Dover Financial Research report issued Wednesday and commissioned by Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC).

Evergreen Investments of Boston, Wachovia Corp.'s asset management arm, announced Sept. 4 that it has closed its family of fund of funds.