The Enron 401(k) debacle is getting the attention of Congress. Represenatice. Michael Oxley (R-Ohio), the chair of one of the finance committees holding hearings on the Enron collapse, said the hearings will examine Enron's accounting practices, potential securities law violations and its handling of its employees' 401(k) retirement investment plans.



State Street Research and Management portfolio manager Thomas Moore and Eaton Vance's Robert Russell have each joined State Street Global Advisors (SSgA). The pair join the five memeber portfolio management team on the $2.3 billion International Growth Opportunities and report to Ned Riley, chief investment officer of SSgA's active fundamental group.



JPMorgan Investor Services has rolled out 24-hour support for its custody clients with its new "Follow the Sun" system. The service covers all web-based and other client access tools. The custodian exploits its Dallas, Sydney, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong and London offices to create a rotating help desk.



Legg Mason has agreed to pay $2.1 million to settle claims arising from the bankruptcy of a Baltimore broker-dealer founded by a Legg Mason employee. Twenty investors lost $4 million when Coleman Craten, a brokerage founded by Monica L. Coleman while she was a Legg Mason employee in 1998, filed for bankruptcy. Coleman still faces a trial next month on 15 counts of securities fraud, felony theft and misappropriation of $2.6 million. The settlement earmarks $1.78 million for Coleman clients.



If sales follow performance growth shops should have a better 2002 than value shops. Rosanne Pane, Standard and Poor's mutual fund strategist, predicts that growth will continue to outperform value in 2002. She notes that most fund managers are now focusing on technology driven stocks and hope to catch the wave of an expected economic recovery much like the one that carried funds out of the 1990 recession.



Vanguard celebrated the fifteenth birthday of its Total Bond Market Index yesterday. The fund has grown to $21.6 billion in net assets since 1986 and is now the nation's largest bond fund in assets and third-best selling, says Vanguard. It has also been beating the pants of its stock fund rivals and now sports a one year return of 12.84 percent.



Barclays is considering a sale or spin-off of its investment management unit, Barclays Global Investor, according to an unconfirmed report in eFinancialNews. The story started with Barclays' appointment of investment banker Naquib Kheraj as deputy chairman of BGI. Part of Kheraj's task is reportedly to develop strategy for the unit. BGI manages some $700 billion and since last year has tied a portion of employee equity compensation to its business.  

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