NEW MUTUAL FUND RULES – The SEC has adopted new rules giving independent directors of mutual fund companies more power in dealing with management, as well as reinforcing their independence and providing investors with more information to assess that independence.  According to an SEC statement, "Mutual fund independent directors are an investor's front-line defense against conflicts of interest and other potential abuses."

CAREER SALES IMPORTANT – MONY reports that its fourth-quarter core earnings will be 19% short of planned earnings.  Analysts say the "most significant factors affecting the company's 2001 performance will be the equity market decline during 2000 and its impact on the company's accumulation segment assets under management and its career agent sales."  FYI, MONY's stock has a 52-week range between $26-1/4 and $51-3/8 and is currently trading in the $37 range.

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS – The consumer advocacy group, Families USA, and the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA) are calling on all healthcare parties to transcend ideological, partisan interests and agree on a "second best" approach to expanding healthcare access to the country's 43 million uninsured. Past efforts to reduce the number of uninsured have failed because interest groups refused to compromise on their demands. The associations are calling for a form of tax credits for low-income workers, along with expanded public programs.

INTERNET DROPOUTS – The charge into Internet auto insurance sales appears to be slowing with one company, Ohio Casualty Group, announcing that it would halt auto insurance sales directly online.  At the same time, a joint venture between Priceline.com and W.R. Berkley Corp. to create a new company to sell auto insurance online is being dropped.  In making its announcement, the Ohio Casualty Group said it plans to concentrate on strengthening "the partnership with the independent agents who sell our products."  The Priceline.com decision may have something to do with the fact that its stock has tumbled some 98% in value since its March, 2000 high of $104.
 

OPTIMISM – LIMRA's CEO Outlook Index reached an all-time high. While optimism increased over the third quarter for both company and industry measures, CEOs continue to be more optimistic about their own company's future than that of the industry as a whole.  See http://www.limra.com for more.

NYSE/NASDAQ STUDY – A recently released SEC study reveals that investors generally get worse prices when they trade on the Nasdaq than on the NYSE, but Nasdaq trades for smaller orders are often faster than on the NYSE.  The price difference is attributed to the fact that on the Nasdaq, the dealers keep the spread between what buyers pay and what sellers receive, while the NYSE system of traders doesn't benefit from the spread.

AARP CONFLICT? – AARP has sued Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Wisconsin, the state's largest health insurer, to prevent the Blues from converting to a stockholder-owned company. Blue Cross contends the conversion is designed to allow Blue Cross to gain access to additional financial resources and to develop more competitively priced products for its members. AARP has accepted up to $20 million in royalties from United HealthCare, the Blues' largest competitor in Wisconsin.

GROWING RIFT – Investment News reports that the rift over fee disclosure is growing between commissioned and fee-based financial planners.  Commissioned planners are responding to a proposal by the CFP Board of Standards that would require disclosure of dollar amounts of commissions and other details with calls for more disclosure by fee-based planners, including disclosure of the dollar amount of fees they collect over one, five and 10 years, potential deferred-sales charges and referral fees.

EXAM BLUES – According to Financial Planning Interactive, "the pass rate for the CFP designation continues to fall, as nearly half the candidates failed the November exam."  Only 51% of the 1,066 applicants passed the two-day, 10-hour test last November.

HAPPY INSUREDS – Public perception of managed care may be low, but a new Harris Poll released last Wednesday shows that 69% of insured American adults give their own health plans an A or B rating. Possible reasons for the disparity include a "media beating" and many doctors bad mouthing managed care to their patients.  Apparently insureds are just as satisfied in managed care as they are in fee-for-service care.