Compliance May 1, 2006

EEOC Sues Universal for Race Discrimination

May 1, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The US District Court for the Central District of California has rejected a motion by Universal Pictures to dismiss a race discrimination case brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
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According to the EEOC announcement, the court found that the agency had presented direct evidence that Universal’s decision to fire Frank Davis was motivated by his race.   In addition, the court said that the reasons Universal gave for firing Davis raise a genuine issue regarding the motive for the firing and “could support an inference that he was fired because of his race.”

Davis was hired as First Assistant Director for the film “2 Fast 2 Furious.”   The director, John Singleton, who is also black said that Davis did not have any performance problems and he was opposed to Universal’s firing, the announcement said.

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The EEOC presented evidence of a telephone interview during which the interviewer asked Davis, “What color are you? Are you black?”   In addition, the EEOC said that Davis was replaced with a white assistant director.

The court said Universal gave inconsistent reasons for firing Davis.   Universal also gave reasons for the firing for which white assistant directors were not fired.

“Movie studios like Universal are not above the law and cannot flagrantly violate the rights of people brave enough to complain about discrimination,” said EEOC Los Angeles Regional Attorney Anna Park, in the announcement.

Investing April 28, 2006

Fund Flows Continue Weak Cycle in March

April 28, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Net fund flows into US mutual funds continued to lose ground in March with a $28.3-billion influx - down significantly from February's $43.3-billion showing, according to a Financial Research Corporation (FRC) report.
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Even February’s showing  (See FRC: February Fund Flow Loses Some Punch )  was down from January’s strongest-of-the-year performance, according to the FRC data.

In March, International/Global funds led the way with $20.1 billion in inflows while Domestic Equities ended the month with a $4.2 billion intake. Corporate bond funds showed a $3.41 billion influx in March while government bond funds gave back $275 million.

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Per Morningstar fund category, it was Foreign Large-Cap Blend leading the way with a $5.83 billion March gain while Large Blend was close on its heels at $5.44 billion. Moderate Allocation funds got a $3.62 billion boost over the month while Foreign Large Growth was up by $3.27 billion and Intermediate Term bond was up by $2.9 billion.

Fund Families

Vanguard Group and American Funds held the top fund group spots in March, with $849 billion and $836 billion, respectively.  Behind the two sizeable fund families in the March total asset race were:

  • Fidelity Investments – $789 billion
  • Franklin Distributors Inc. – $264 billion
  • Barclays Global Investors Funds – $198 billion.

Among March best sellers was American Funds at the top, netting a $6.89 billion inflow.  This was followed by Vanguard’s $6.6 billion, Barclays’ $4.17 billion and Fidelity’s $3 billion.

Top Sellers

In the top slots for March hot fund sellers were:

  • American Funds Growth Fund – $2.2 billion
  • American Funds Capital World Growth and Income – $1.6 billion
  • Dodge & Cox’s International Stock Fund – $1.2 billion.

The full report is  here .

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