The Markets November 6, 2007

More Manager Shifts at Janus

Janus Capital Group Inc. says that, effective tomorrow, veteran portfolio manager Marc Pinto will manage Janus Growth and Income Fund and its related products for intermediary and institutional clients.
Reported by
A 13-year Janus veteran, Pinto will remain co-portfolio manager of Janus Balanced Fund and its related products and will continue to manage certain institutional large-cap growth disciplines.
The firm also announced that Director of Research Jim Goff and Janus’ research analyst team will manage Janus Fundamental Equity Fund and its related products for intermediary and institutional clients, including a product for non-US investors called Janus Capital Funds Plc – Janus US Fundamental Equity Fund.
Both the Janus Growth and Income and Janus Fundamental Equity products were previously managed by Minyoung Sohn, who has decided to leave Janus, according to the press release.
It’s the latest in a series of departure-necessitated moves at the Denver-based fund company. Just last month the firm announced that David Corkins, portfolio manager of Janus Fund, was leaving the firm to pursue other opportunities – leading to a transition of responsibilities (see Janus Fund to Get New Pilot). The announcement comes less than two months after Scott Schoelzel, portfolio manager of Janus Twenty Fund announced his intention to leave the fund – and the firm – at the end of the year after 14 years at Janus (see Janus Twenty Fund to Change Skippers).
Other Moves
The company also said it will ask the trustees of the Janus Funds to approve the merger of Janus Fundamental Equity Fund into Janus Research Fund. In addition, Janus will recommend renaming the related Fundamental Equity products for intermediary and institutional clients worldwide as Janus Research.
Deals & People November 6, 2007

ING Beefs Up Brokerage with Sharebuilder Buy

ING Direct has agreed to buy ShareBuilder Corporation's online brokerage business for $220 million.
Reported by

The move is designed to to extend ING’s “…retail investment products range and geographical spread in the US,” according to a press release.

When asked how ING’s acquisition of ShareBuilder will impact the 401(k) group, which offers an ETF-option 401(k) program, Stuart Robertson, general manager of ShareBuilder 401(k), said “no changes are expected.”

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

ShareBuilder, a privately held brokerage based in Seattle, will be added to ING’s online banking arm ING Direct in a deal that is expected to close by the end of 2007, the bank said. ING Direct will absorb 661,000 ShareBuilder customers.

Under the terms of the agreement, ING DIRECT USA will acquire 100% of ShareBuilder Corporation’s outstanding equity-related interests. Like ING DIRECT USA, ShareBuilder targets early stage investors through a limited set of simple and high-value investment products including Stocks, Exchange Traded Funds, Options and Automatic Investment Plans, according to an announcement about the acquisition

Earlier this year, ShareBuilder began trying to raise awareness about 401(k) participant fees, specifically calling for fees to stay below the 1% mark and for total fee transparency (See ShareBuilder Trying to Increase 401(k) Fee Awareness).

«