FUND TIME: SUPREME COURT TO WEIGH IN ON MUTUAL FUNDS FEES

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Fund Times: Supreme Court to Weigh In on Mutual Fund Fees
Plus, more fund mergers announced.

By Ryan Leggio | 03-12-09 | 01:45 PM | E-mail Article | Print Article | Permissions/Reprints | Ryan's Monthly Newsletter

The Supreme Court announced this week that it will review the fund fee case brought against Harris Associates, advisor to the Oakmark funds. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for Jones v. Harris this fall. As we've reported before in Fund Times, the Supreme Court will weigh in on whether Harris' fees were excessive. For more information, including the legal question the Supreme Court will tackle, check out Oyez. For a more detailed analysis of the case, including what an overruling might mean for mutual fund shareholder fees, see this Fund Spy.
Transamerica Fires Advisors
Transamerica has fired TCW and AllianceBernstein from Transamerica Partners Large Value Fund (DVEIX


Sponsored by:
DVEIX) because of performance and volatility. Stepping in for AllianceBernstein is Philadelphia-based quant shop Aronson+Johnson+Ortiz (AJO). AJO comanages another Transamerica fund, Transamerica Partners Large Core (DVGIX


Sponsored by:
DVGIX), with BlackRock. AJO also manages Quaker Small-Cap Value (QUSVX


Sponsored by:
QUSVX), a small-blend fund, and Absolute Strategies (ASFIX


Sponsored by:
ASFIX), a fund of funds within the long-short category.

Three-Time Morningstar Manager of the Year Award Winner to Take Sabbatical
FPA's Bob Rodriguez announced that he will step back from day-to-day management of his funds, FPA Capital (FPPTX


Sponsored by:
FPPTX) and FPA New Income (FPNIX


Sponsored by:
FPNIX), in 2010. Please see my colleague Russel Kinnel's take on what the departure means for shareholders.

Vanguard Adopts New Policy for Controversial Holdings
Vanguard's fund board recently directed the firm to report back on companies in which it invests that might be involved with human rights' abuses. Vanguard, along with other investment firms, has been subject to criticism from special-interest groups that object to the funds' investments in firms such as PetroChina (PTR


Sponsored by:
PTR).

Under the new policy, the fund board will receive regular reports on companies in which they invest "whose direct involvement in crimes against humanity or patterns of egregious abuses of human rights would warrant engagement or potential divestment."

NOTE: the new policy will receive the regular reports on the companies.

It is unclear what impact this new procedure will ultimately have on a formal shareholder proposal from Investors Against Genocide, which would require a similar review process for holdings at 30 Vanguard funds.

RiverSource and Seligman Fund Merger Update
Just weeks after RiverSource's purchase of Seligman, RiverSource says it plans to merge 47 Seligman and RiverSource funds. The affected funds include Riversource Global Technology (AXIAX


Sponsored by:
AXIAX), which would be merged into Seligman Global Technology (SHGTX


Sponsored by:
SHGTX). Meanwhile, Seligman Common Stock (SCSFX


Sponsored by:
SCSFX) would merge into RiverSource Disciplined Equity (AQEAX


Sponsored by:
AQEAX). In addition, the majority of Seligman's single-state municipal-bond fund lineup would be merged into Seligman National Municipal (SNXEX


Sponsored by:
SNXEX).

Of the 47 funds involved, 30 Seligman funds will charge shareholders 0.16% of assets to change transfer agents. We're disappointed that RiverSource elected to pass this cost on to fundholders, though the mergers should generate economies of scale and using one transfer agent for all funds should result in some annual savings over the long term. These savings will lower the expense ratios on most of the merged Seligman funds 12 months after they are merged, which is expected (pending shareholder approval) in May.

NOTE: the mergers should the generate economies these saving will lower the expences ratio on most of the merged seligmas funds.

Fidelity Launches Cheaper Share Class for Retirement Plans
Fidelity is launching a new low-cost share class aimed at retirement plans. The new K shares will be available only through retirement plans. For example, while Fidelity Freedom 2030 (FFFEX


Sponsored by:
FFFEX) charges 0.76%, the K shares will be almost 30% cheaper and charge only 0.54%.
To read more about the securities mentioned in this article, become a Morningstar.com Premium Member. Gain access to comprehensive investment research including Morningstar's stock fair value estimates, company economic moat ratings, Fund Analyst Picks, and Fund Stewardship Grades. Click here to start a free 14-day trial.
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Ryan Leggio, Esq., is a fund analyst with Morningstar.
Authors can be reached at Analyst Feedback.
Ryan Leggio does not own shares in any of the securities mentioned above.
Find out about Morningstar's editorial policies.
Reproduction or use of this article or any portion of it is forbidden without the express written permission of Morningstar, Inc.



Premium Content Morningstar Analyst ReportGet Morningstar's Buy/Sell opinions on the tickers mentioned in this article:
DVGIX | FPPTX | FPNIX | DVEIX | SCSFX | SNXEX | SHGTX | AXIAX | FFFEX | QUSVX | PTR | AQEAX | ASFIX
Institutional Investor Magazine - FREE TRIAL
Related NewsDVGIX: New portfolio
02-10-09 | 12:00 AM
FPPTX: Rodriguez to Step Back from Managing Funds at FPA
03-10-09 | 09:26 AM
FPNIX: First Pacific Advisors CEO Robert L. Rodriguez Plans One-Year Sabbatical in 2010
03-10-09 | 08:00 AM
DVEIX: New portfolio
02-10-09 | 12:00 AM
SCSFX: Equity Style Box change
01-23-09 | 12:00 AM
Also in Fund TimesRodriguez to Step Back from Managing Funds at FPA
By Russel Kinnel | 03-10-09 | 09:26 AM
Fund Times: AllianceBernstein CEO Subpoenaed
By Katie Rushkewicz | 03-05-09 | 11:04 AM
Relief for Hedge Funds in January
By Nadia Papagiannis, CFA | 02-26-09 | 04:00 PM
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Fund Times Fund Times: Supreme Court to Weigh In on Mutual Fund Fees Ryan Leggio, Esq., is a fund analyst with Morningstar.
http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=283754 ryan.leggio@morningstar.com;