Fund Distributors Research Articles

Management of community-owned facilities post-acquisition

The drive within (development) policy and practice in the UK is towards ownership of local facilities by local communities, with the surrounding rhetoric focusing on community empowerment, inclusion and sustainable development. Coupled with this is a normative presumption of unproblematic ownership by community. This article seeks to question the uncritical nature of these developments by reference to empirical data from Scotland, gathered through a postal survey of 347 rural village hall committees, six in-depth case studies and interviews with funders and fund distributors whose remit covers village halls. Findings are presented with reference to the Community Capitals Framework, focusing particularly on human, social and political capitals. The evidence shows that village hall committees identify a need for support for human and social capacity-building through training to enable them to move beyond short-term ‘fire-fighting’ and operational challenges towards strategic thinking and sustained community engagement. Funders identify key requirements for communities to enhance the sustainability of village halls, including the need to have a strategic rather than operational mindset and to engage in ongoing community-level capacity-building. With the increasing push towards public sector asset transfer to communities, the article argues that much greater cognisance must be made of the complexities and capacity challenges that exist once an asset has been acquired by a community. More effective brokerage and sharing of resources is a critical component in ensuring that community assets do not become liabilities over time.

Implementing the new summary prospectus rule: done right it will save both time and money; done wrong and look out for the bottom line

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to recommend a print distribution and web site disclosure strategy that is both cost effective and compliant with the SEC summary prospectus rule.Design/methodology/approachThe paper explains the economics of offset printing versus digital printing on demand (POD) and printing prospectuses at the traditional printer's site versus creating print‐ready PDFs electronically and making them available to fund distributors so they can print and deliver “on demand” on site. It provides a checklist of web site disclosure requirements for a fund to be compliant with the summary prospectus rule.FindingsThe paper finds that, by establishing a rock‐solid web strategy, coupled with new thinking on their printed prospectuses, firms can comfortably maximize their savings and establish a rational framework for investor disclosure envisioned by the SEC.Originality/valueThe paper provides cost effective guidance for compliance with the SEC summary prospectus rule.

Measuring the Profit Potential of a New Life Insurance Company

In recent years, there has been considerable interest in the formation of new life insurance companies in all parts of the United States. Promoters, investors and successful life insurance agents of the giant well-established companies have been attracted by the promise of spectacular capital gains. Mutual Fund distributors, Fire and Casualty Insurance Company Groups, Savings and Loan Association, Bank and Finance holding companies have sought to become Department Stores of Finance. Non-admitted life insurance companies have sought to breach the interstate barriers to entry by the formation of domestic pup companies. Major mass merchandising corporations have sought to capture some of their captive business for their own life insurance subsidiaries. The new life insurance company is a member of an industry which must, for analytical purposes, be distinguished from the life insurance industry with which most students are familiar. Its theory and practice are so unlike those of the wellestablished and seasoned companies that the practitioner must beware of the truths or principles expounded in the traditional text books. Much has been written about the promise of the new life companies, but a number of significant aspects of the measurement of profit potentials appear to have received inade-