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Get Four
|  | SEPTEMBER 30, 2003
The Mutual Fund Scandal and You Our survey finds readers fairly outraged over the alleged abuses New York's Eliot Spitzer is investigating, and they want changes Here's a news flash for the mutual-fund and hedge-fund industries: Investors may not be entirely up to speed on how your businesses operate (see BW Online, 9/22/03, "A Primer on the Mutual-Fund Scandal"), but they're in no mood to tolerate any hijinks that may cost them money. And they're all for tighter regulations for both types of funds -- and for stiff penalties, including jail time, for fund execs who violate those. At least, that's the reaction of the 430 readers who took part in our Sept. 19 Reader Survey on this topic. Some 79% of those who responded said they're somewhat or very familiar with the investigation of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer into the misdeeds of a handful of mutual funds. Based on what they know of that investigation, some 51% said their opinion of mutual funds as an investment is "much less favorable" than before the scandal broke (though 31% said their opinion is unchanged). INADEQUATE OVERSIGHT. Some of the latter evidently are cynics, since 80% of those who participated said they think questionable practices at mutual-fund companies are either somewhat or very prevalent, based on what they know of the Spitzer investigation. Consequently, some 60% of those who participated think regulatory oversight of mutual funds is either somewhat or totally inadequate. And 67% of those who responded think the regulation of hedge funds, some of which may have participated in the shady practices Spitzer is investigating, is somewhat or totally inadequate. That's true even though 35% of those who responded said they aren't familiar at all with what hedge funds do. Some 82% of those who took the survey characterized as somewhat or very significant the $115 loss Stanford University professor Eric Zitzewitz figures an investor with $10,000 in mutual-fund holdings could have suffered as a result of the shenanigans Spitzer has been uncovering. The same percentage regard as "very significant" the millions in extra income some fund companies may have reaped by cheating. JAIL TIME, PLEASE. That explains why readers pretty much equally favor every reform that experts have suggested for mutual funds (a bare handful think no changes are needed), and why they're in favor of fines, suspended licenses, executive firings, and jail time for funds and their execs who engage in malfeasance. Some 93% of the readers who participated said they own mutual funds. And some 84% have more than $10,000 invested in mutual funds -- including 45% who have more than $100,000 invested. Here are the detailed results of the survey, which as always was unscientific, since anyone who wished to could participate: Do you own mutual funds?
How familiar are you with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's investigation into mutual fund trading practices?
Based on what you know about that investigation, would you say that your opinion of mutual funds as an investment vehicle is now:
Based on what you know about Spitzer's investigation, do you think questionable practices at mutual-fund companies are:
How much money do you have invested in mutual funds?
If your fund company is named in the investigation, how likely would you be to consider selling your shares in that company's funds?
Would you say that the current degree of regulatory oversight of mutual funds is:
Hedge funds may have worked out deals with fund companies allowing them to engage in the types of trading Spitzer has challenged. How familiar are you with hedge funds and how they operate?
Based on what you know about hedge funds, would you say the current degree of regulatory oversight of them is:
According to Eric Zitzewitz, an assistant professor of economics at Stanford University, an investor with $10,000 in an international fund would have lost an average of $115 in 2001 as a result of the some of the practices Spitzer has uncovered. How significant do you consider such a loss to be?
If mutual-fund companies reaped millions or tens of millions in extra income because of the trading practices Spitzer is investigating, how significant would you consider that to be?
Of the following remedies for the practices Spitzer is investigating, which would you most favor? (Choose as many as you think would be appropriate):
What types of penalties should regulators levy on fund companies that are found to have engaged in illegal trading practices?
BW MALL
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