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Half of Independent RIAs Add Clients

Advisers are benefitting from growing dissatisfaction with brokerages.

Advocacy Group to Emphasize Higher Fiduciary Standards for Advisers

Brokers are paid to represent the interests of their firm, Committee for the Fiduciary Standard says.

Rydex Advisor Confidence Index Rose 4% in June

It’s the second consecutive monthly increase since October 2007.

Hedge Funds on Track to Return 6%+ in 2Q

But many investors, particularly institutional investors, are still waiting for reforms before committing new money.

Long-Term Mutual Funds Net $11B, 14th Straight Week of Inflows

Money market fund assets rose by an additional $34 billion.

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Articles

Eliminating Money Funds' $1 NAV Causes Concern

While the financial services industry largely embraced most of the Obama administration's financial services overhaul, the idea of removing money funds' $1 net asset value is causing widespread concern in the mutual fund industry. 'If you float the value of a money fund, you've essentially destroyed the product,' said Investment Company Institute President Paul Schott Stevens. 'We're going to explain clearly why we believe a fluctuating [NAV] is a very bad idea.'

Target-Date Fund Hearing Focuses on Disclosure

At the hearing on target-date funds that the Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange Commission held in Washington last Thursday, the focus was on better disclosure of holdings. Even though the makeup and glidepaths of target-date funds vary so considerably, as proven by the range of minus 7% to minus 41% that 2010 target-date funds delivered in 2008, fund executives resisted government-mandated caps on holdings.

FINRA Fines Seven Bond B/Ds for Violations

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined seven firms a total of $184,500, including $80,000 for Tulsa-based BOSC Inc., for failing to timely or accurately report municipal securities, unfairly pricing bonds, as well as other muni and non-muni rule violations. FINRA announced the sanctions in monthly disciplinary actions last week. Besides BOSC, it fined Charles Schwab $30,000, Stoever, Glass & Co. $20,000, Piper Jaffray & Co. $17,500, Finance 500 Inc. $15,000, Bonddesk Trading LLC $12,000, and Country Club Financial Services Inc. $10,000.

Providers Look for Auto Rollover Solutions to Include Job Changers

WASHINGTON - With 47% of 401(k) plans now using automatic enrollment, the programs have helped get millions of new workers enrolled to start saving early for retirement, but industry experts say the automatic nature of these plans needs to extend to helping 'hands-off' investors when they change jobs. When an employee leaves a job, he or she can choose to roll over their money into an individual retirement account (IRA), take a lump-sum payment minus taxes and a 10% penalty, or do nothing and leave their money in the 401(k). Sir Isaac Newton would predict the latter.

401k Fee Transparency Push Could Increase Fees, Confusion

WASHINGTON - Many investment industry leaders are worried that the proposed 401(k) fee disclosure regulations currently being pushed through Congress will actually increase the fees investors pay and increase their confusion. 'Regulators feel they need to add nuances to 401(k) fee disclosure, but what's it going to cost the industry to comply?' asked Fred Teufel, a principal of institutional retirement plan services at The Vanguard Group, during the Society of Professional Asset-Managers and Record Keepers' conference titled 'Retirement Plans at a Crossroad' held here last week at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. 'We spend an increasing amount of our budget on regulatory compliance,' said Barbara March, executive vice president of workplace investing for defined contribution plan services at Fidelity Investments. 'This reminds me of redemption fees. The cost of complying with the rules was more than anyone would have been hurt by the fees.'

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