Mutual funds

WELLESLEY, Mass. - Gone are the supposed days when wholesalers stood around conference booths all day, cavalierly handing out golf balls, or taking brokers out for cigars and whiskey. To get through the new "Fund Selection Unit" gatekeepers at brokerage firms, today's wholesalers need not just have excellent people skills and be nimble, but be highly knowledgeable about the mutual funds they are selling, retirement planning issues and the economy, as well as be technologically savvy.

Hennion and Walsh, a small New Jersey fund firm, is introducing ETFs into 401k plans by wrapping them in mutual funds.

Fred Alger Management has announced its plans to consolidate all of its open-end mutual funds into the Alger brand by September.

Direxion Fund’s Commodity Trends Strategy Fund has been benefiting from all this interest in commodities.

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Gavin charged UBS AG's UBS Securities, LLC and UBS Financial Services with fraud and dishonest conduct regarding the firms’ retail sales of auction-rate securities.

Leading mutual fund and exchange-traded fund provider Vanguard has launched the Vanguard Total World Stock Index Fund. This fund is set to track the performance of the FTSE All-World Index, which is a market-capitalized-weighted index serving as a benchmark of about 2,900 stocks throughout 47 countries.

In light of Legg Mason Inc.’s recent struggles and dropping stock price, the company has slashed the pay of CEO Mark Fetting and its founder Raymond “Chip” Mason, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Barclays Bank PLC has introduced its iPath Global Carbon Exchange Traded Note on the NYSE Arca stock exchange.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox announced this week that the SEC will be conducting an internal inquiry into the structure of its current disclosure system, creating a “fundamental rethinking of financial disclosure.”

When things start to go bad in the stock market or the economy in general, previously ignored things like mutual fund fees can suddenly irk investors.

Plans are currently underway to create a new commodities exchange in Hong Kong, potentially giving China a larger role in setting the world’s petroleum prices and adding to the reputation it craves as a global, economic powerhouse.

Hedge funds have recently increased their investment in aggressive, exchange-traded funds.

Recent hikes in oil prices and far-too-turbulent markets may have caused unwanted stress for investors, but Steven Lehman thinks he might be able to provide a glimpse of hope to pessimists by ditching the traditional pattern of investing domestically, according to The Wall Street Journal.

For the next few days, 1,500 fund managers from across the nation will gather in Chicago for the 2008 Morningstar Investment Conference, with the hopes of hearing new ideas and investment strategies that can help them reengage their clients in investments.

Capital One Funds’ board has approved a transfer of assets from each of its six fund portfolios to comparable funds at Fidelity, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The agreement, pending shareholder approval, would go into effect in October.

Lately, many frustrated preferred investors have searched for an opportunity to cash in on the subprime crisis and move on. Responding directly to investor woes, several closed-end fund companies like Nuveen Investments Inc. and Eaton Vance Corp. decided that they would be offering investors a chance to redeem their auction-rate preferred securities, The Wall Street Journal reports

Due to prolonged weak results, the Vanguard Group announced that David Fassnacht has been replaced as the portfolio manager of the $19.2 billion Windsor Fund (VWNDX) and the $490 million Vanguard Capital Value Fund (VCVLX), Dow Jones reports.

Investing in commodities—especially energy—has always been a way to make money in a weak economy, and this past year was no exception, Kiplinger’s reports. As the economy suffered, pension funds, hedge funds and mutual funds linked to commodities grew. However, as crude oil reaches $135 a barrel, the success of commodity investment might be facing a change

Since the redesign of JPMorgan’s Fund Management adviser website, usage of the site has increased, resulting in benefits for both advisers and investors. The improved design and usability of the site is a collaboration of the top practices of other successful financial management sites, offering improvements in design and convenience for advisers’ usage.

Morningstar has upgraded its investment planning site, Advisor Workstation Office Edition. Of primary focus are the additions to the asset allocation and portfolio construction functions of the site.