Mutual funds

restructuring

MIAMI—Gary Palmer, chief executive of the Irish Funds Association, led a panel discussion at the National Investment Company Service Association's 26th AnnualConference & Expo here earlier this week questioning the viability of small asset managers.

Three weeks after the Securities and Exchange Commission officially declined the no-action request of Fidelity Investments of Boston, leaders of activist group Investors Against Genocide are feeling victorious. But they still know they haven't won the war to drive through their shareholder-driven proxy proposal.

Prudential Fixed Income Taps New CIO

Morgan Stanley Cuts 1,000 As Mortgages Diminish

Hedge funds are a little too secretive for the appetite of most institutional investors, but if the funds change too much in order to suit a broader audience, they could lose the very thing that made them appealing. The cachet of the inside know on where the smart money is.

IT practitioners and other tech types will kick off this week's 26th Annual NICSA conference and expo in Miami by addressing how fund companies will manage the industry's international expansion.

As the subprime contagion infects new corners of the financial markets, portfolio managers are voting with their feet and moving money into what are perceived to be safer investments.

Two senior-level executives with Julius Baer earned compensation packages worth $120 million in the first nine months of 2007, according to a regulatory filing.

U.S. money manager Legg Mason denied market rumors this week that one of its money market funds had fallen to below $1 in net asset value, commonly known as "breaking the buck."

Swiss private bank Julius Baer Holdings on Tuesday said it is preparing an initial public offering for sometime this year for its U.S.-based mutual funds unit.

Prudential Retirement announced today that it has entered into an external partner distribution agreement with The Newport Group to offer Prudential IncomeFlex, Prudential’s 401(k) retirement income solution. Under the terms of the agreement, Newport, a leading retirement services and investment advisory firm, will provide fully integrated access to IncomeFlex to its new and existing clients.

Japan Looks to Overhaul Financial Regulations

Kenyon Switches From Goodwin to Dechert

A Meeting of the Minds: Retirement Income Roundtable At SourceMedia New York Headquarters on Jan. 28, 2008

Delegating key business operations to third-party providers such as custodians, administrators, distributors and transfer agents is certainly not new to asset managers. It is a traditional investment management business model which has been refined over the years with increasing third-party interaction.

Shortly before the Apollo 13 moon mission was to launch, the command module pilot, Ken Mattingly, was exposed to the German measles and pulled from the flight crew.

MIAMI-The best way to shape the back office's response to the Merrill Lynch Rule was addressed in a presentation last month by Dr. Stephen Winks at the National Investment Company Service Association's 7th Annual Managed Accounts Technology and Operations Conference, recently held here at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa. And it's all about becoming as nimble as the front office.

Ramifications from the Pension Protection Act's effect on investor inertia, changes to Rule 12b-1's regulation of expenses and a possible mandate by the Securities and Exchange Commission on independent directors are among the top concerns of the mutual fund industry's top executives.

Seeing how the biggest story of 2007 was the subprime crisis, which only a few canny hedge fund managers foresaw, let's take a look ahead to potential news headlines for 2008. Who knows, we might even be as canny as the best of them.