It’s bad enough that the average stock mutual fund lost something like 40 percent of investors’ money last year, and many bond funds lost money too. Now Morningstar’s Russel Kinnel says investors need to watch out for higher fees on their shrinking…

When I blogged about David A. Noyes & Co.’s attempt to choose the greatest financial innovation of the last century, I dismissed 401ks and IRAs as mere tax gimmicks. So guess which innovation won the poll? Noyes says in a…

Peter Crane, a leading expert on money-market mutual funds, says you soon may have to pay your fund to hold your money. According to a Bloomberg story, he believes an interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week might push the…

The concept of “blue” investing — buying shares of companies that support the Democratic party — isn’t working out so well for mutual-fund investors. The Wall Street Journal reports today that Blue Investment Management has folded its small-cap fund and…

Whether to own companies with ties to Sudan has a big issue in the pension-fund world for several years. Illinois passed a law in 2005 requiring its state funds to sell their Sudan-related shares, only to see it declared unconstitutional last…

One possible justification for using a stockbroker — as opposed to being a do-it-yourself investor, or working with a fee-based planner  – is that the broker may give you good advice about when to buy stocks. Alternatively, he/she may perform…

Morningstar  has joined the chorus calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission to abolish 12b-1 fees. The “distribution” charge, as I pointed out in Wednesday’s column, was originally intended to help struggling funds cover their postage and advertising costs, but it…

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said recently that the commission is taking a hard look at 12b-1 fees, which mutual funds levy for “distribution costs.”  Funds collected $11 billion of such fees last year, with most of the money going to brokers through…

The Illinois Secretary of State’s office has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 7 on market-timing allegations involving A.G. Edwards & Sons. The state says it “has obtained evidence of multiple violations of the Illinois Securities Law” by four Edwards branches in…

According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), St. Louis attorney Jerome Schlichter has added Fidelity Investments and Deere & Co. to the list of companies he is suing over fee disclosures in 401k plans. Fidelity manages Deere’s 401k, and according…