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IFRS Puts Focus On Fair Value

January 4, 2010 - As regulators work to converge U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), several key differences remain, most notably the different measurement attributes of financial liabilities, the timing and approaches to projects and the difference between fair value and amortized costs. Under GAAP, investment companies like mutual funds, private equity holders and venture capital organizations are exempted from certain consolidation requirements and are allowed to account for separate fund holdings at fair value. No such exemptions currently exist under IFRS, though fair value concerns are being featured prominently in convergence discussions, and the U.S. has been adapting its rules on fair value to increase its international appeal.

American Century Looks Abroad

December 14, 2009 - American Century Investments is a brand-new player in the international wealth management business-and that novelty could be an ace up its sleeve, according to the company's top executive. "That's because the Kansas City, Mo.-based mutual fund firm is a fresh alternative for institutional investors who are "disenchanted with their current providers," said Jonathan Thomas, American Century's president and chief executive officer. "For the most part, we're nobody's current provider."

Fund Managers Bullish on Emerging Markets in 2010

December 14, 2009 - Fund managers are betting that emerging markets will be the best place for growth in 2010, due to their lack of correlation to the rest of the world and its sluggish, forecasted recovery, but lower correlation does not mean greater safety. Energy, technology and health-care sectors will lead domestically, but unemployment will likely remain around 10% for at least another six months, forcing the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low for as long as possible, experts say.

Private Funds Face Regulatory Face-Lift

December 7, 2009 - While it may be too late for the Securities and Exchange Commission to pass any new regulations before the end of the year, financial experts anticipate major financial legislation and regulation to occur sometime in early 2010. The main issues facing money managers are Congressional proposals to require private funds to register with the SEC, a Supreme Court ruling on fund fees, a proposal to regulate money market funds and regulatory proposals or guidance on valuation.

Commodity ETFs Surge in Popularity

November 30, 2009 - NEW YORK - Investors and money managers looking to diversify their portfolios by getting into commodities and commodity exchange-traded funds should keep in mind the volatile nature of these products, as well as the wide range of possible risks, experts say. "The only way to make money on commodities is to buy and sell them," said Victor Sperandeo, president and CEO of Alpha Financial Technologies, at the Inside Commodities Conference held earlier this month at the New York Stock Exchange, hosted by IndexUniverse.

Experts Predict Market Growth in Near Future

November 23, 2009 - The U.S. economy is well on its way to recovery, according to most mutual fund CIOs, and just about all the economic charts show key growth criteria improving, barring an unexpected jolt. Most experts seem to agree that unemployment has nearly peaked, inflation fears are far-off, and U.S. large-cap stocks still provide some of the best bargains around.

IFRS Consolidation Rules Could Slam Mutual Funds

November 9, 2009 - NEW YORK - A little-known provision in international financial reporting standards (IFRS) could require mutual funds to consolidate and report the financials of the companies they invest in, if they own a controlling interest across all of their individual funds. Under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), investment companies like mutual funds, private equity holders and venture capital organizations, are exempted from consolidation requirements and allowed to account for their holdings separately in each fund at fair value.

Fidelity Enables Investors To Trade International Stocks, Currencies via Web

October 26, 2009 - Fidelity Investments has augmented its international trading platform, enabling retail investors, advisers and brokers to trade foreign stocks and currencies in real time. The platform gives retail investors access to 12 foreign markets and eight currencies, along with third-party research, news, real-time market data and quotes, and telephone access to international trading specialists 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Broker/dealers and financial advisers have access to trading equities in 25 markets and 16 currencies. The platform can convert dollars into foreign currencies instantly, in current market exchange rates.

Companies Wait for Clearer Guidance Before Adopting IFRS

October 26, 2009 - Noting the urgency and immensity of their task, global financial leaders are frantically making small and large changes to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and international financial accounting standards (IFRS) to make them more similar, and the Securities and Exchange Commission has recently made a single set of standards a high priority. With more than 100 countries already using the principles-based IFRS, the world is anxiously waiting to get the U.S. on board, but merging the two standards to eliminate their differences has been and will continue to be a monumental task.

World Awaits U.S. Action on Accounting Standards

September 28, 2009 - When the Roman Empire was first expanding, regulators noticed an annoying problem: Due to increasing traffic, chariots were leaving grooves in the stone roads, but the gauge - the distance between the wheels - varied according to region. Different sized chariots didn't fit in the grooves. Julius Caesar had a solution: international standardization. Regulators around the world are again trying to establish a new international standard, this time for financial accounting rules.

Funds Must Reassess Back-Office Controls

June 8, 2009 - Thanks to shady money managers like Bernie Madoff who ruined it for everyone, the lucrative and surreptitious heydays of hedge funds may be gone for good. Tenacious regulators and spurned investors alike are demanding more transparency of their investment holdings, and hedge fund and mutual fund companies alike will need to beef up their back offices to meet this new demand.

Industry Braces for New Age of Regulatory Oversight

May 4, 2009 - NEW YORK - Most financial transactions are dependent upon trust, but the last two decades of deregulation have eroded that trust and created a global crisis of confidence, according to experts who met last week at a global forum in the heart of New York's financial district. 'Our existing financial system has failed spectacularly,' said Lord Adair Turner of Ecchinswell, chairman of the UK Financial Services Authority, at a Chatham House forum held at Chase Manhattan Plaza. 'We have been through 20 years of almost limitless deregulation. In hindsight, deregulation was the wrong thing to do.'

Equity Funds Declined 9.25% in First Quarter

April 13, 2009 - Equity funds were clobbered in the first quarter of 2009, declining 9.25%, Lipper reported last week. Performance would have been even worse, were it not for a surprise rally in March. 'It was a deja vu experience from the meltdown of the previous quarter,' noted Tom Roseen, research manager for U.S. and Latin America at Lipper. 'While things were not quite as dour as November and December, we saw January and February posting the worst returns on record going back to 1933, with equity funds in January declining 7.57% and 8.97% in February.'

John Hancock's Hartstein Aims for Growth Ahead

April 6, 2009 - While most mutual fund companies struggled in 2008, John Hancock Funds finished the year in solid standing, buoyed by a strong first half and careful strategic planning. President and CEO Keith Hartstein recently spoke with Money Management Executive's John Morgan about the key areas that drove Hancock's record $8.5 billion in sales, some regulations he would like to see changed and his outlook for the rest of 2009 and beyond.

Executives Cite Risks Of Risk Regulator

March 30, 2009 - PALM DESERT, Calif. - The United States is determined to show the world it is leading global economic recovery efforts, even if that means creating what some in the industry view as risky new risk regulators. Congress has been scrambling for weeks to create a systemic risk regulator before President Barack Obama heads to London this week for the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, but many financial experts are wondering if the government is rushing too quickly to create new regulations and whether such regulations could have prevented the current financial crisis.