Palomba Weingarten

Pilgrim Group Chief Executive Palomba Weingarten has won a sharp reduction in penalties ordered against her and her Century City-based mutual fund firm for a series of fund ads that an industry watchdog group judged misleading. The National Assn. of Securities Dealers' national business conduct committee, in a decision released Monday in Washington, ordered that a one-year suspension and $100,000 fine levied against Weingarten be cut to three months and $25,000.

Pilgrim Group Chief Executive Palomba Weingarten has won a sharp reduction in penalties ordered against her and her Century City-based mutual fund firm for a series of fund ads that an industry watchdog group judged misleading. The National Assn. of Securities Dealers' national business conduct committee, in a decision released Monday in Washington, ordered that a one-year suspension and $100,000 fine levied against Weingarten be cut to three months and $25,000.

Pilgrim CEO Relinquishes One Post: Palomba Weingarten, who chairs Century City-based mutual fund firm Pilgrim Group and its distribution arm Pilgrim Distributors, named James Ash to be chief executive of the latter. Weingarten faces a one-year ban on her association with the distribution unit since a National Assn. of Securities Dealers panel found that she had approved Pilgrim ads containing "misleading or exaggerated statements" about fund performance.

Pilgrim CEO Relinquishes One Post: Palomba Weingarten, who chairs Century City-based mutual fund firm Pilgrim Group and its distribution arm Pilgrim Distributors, named James Ash to be chief executive of the latter. Weingarten faces a one-year ban on her association with the distribution unit since a National Assn. of Securities Dealers panel found that she had approved Pilgrim ads containing "misleading or exaggerated statements" about fund performance.

Palomba Weingarten has never minced words about her competitors and detractors in the mutual fund business. But the head of the L.A.-based Pilgrim Group funds is silent now as she faces what may be her biggest challenge. A regional committee within the National Assn. of Securities Dealers, the self-regulatory organization for brokers, has recommended that the 51-year-old Weingarten be suspended for one year as a principal of Pilgrim's funds distribution arm.

After months of controversy that drained its assets, the Century City-based Pilgrim Group mutual fund company said Wednesday that it will disband. The firm said its staff and six of its 10 funds, with assets of $1.15 billion, will be sold to Express America Holdings, an Arizona mortgage banker, for $28 million. Pilgrim CEO Palomba Weingarten will retain four other Pilgrim funds with $750 million in assets--Pilgrim Adjustable U.S.

"Pilgrim Exec Faces Suspension in Silence" (July 27) raises interesting questions on the relation and conduct of men and women to one another in the business world. Apparently "sugar and spice and everything nice" never did and certainly does not presently apply to Palomba Weingarten. But are being nasty, cheap, evasive, misleading and dishonest requirements for getting along in this environment whether one is a man or a woman? It's not even a case of women equaling men in how low one must get to succeed.

Pilgrim Group, a long-troubled mutual fund company based in Century City, is facing at least six shareholder lawsuits alleging that the firm failed to disclose risks and pricing problems involving some of its bond mutual funds. The funds, which invest in adjustable-rate mortgage bonds, were among the worst-performing mutual funds last year and their steep decline has continued in 1995, even as most bond funds have rebounded.

The ground shook the day after Robert Weingarten, then chairman of First Capital Holdings Corp., told a small group of insurance agents that E. F. Hutton Life Insurance would be renamed First Capital to reflect its newfound ownership by the fast-growing Century City firm. Now, four years later, some agents regret that they didn't recognize the Whittier earthquake as an omen.

Are women different from men when it comes to investing? Some experts think so. And they assert that because of these differences, mutual funds are a good investment vehicle for women. First, a qualification: Many women are thoroughly adept at investing; some of the best fund managers are female. More to the point, several other traits play a bigger role in determining a person's financial outlook and attitudes. "Age and risk tolerance are more critical than gender," says Dr.

Palomba Weingarten has never minced words about her competitors and detractors in the mutual fund business. But the head of the L.A.-based Pilgrim Group funds is silent now as she faces what may be her biggest challenge. A regional committee within the National Assn. of Securities Dealers, the self-regulatory organization for brokers, has recommended that the 51-year-old Weingarten be suspended for one year as a principal of Pilgrim's funds distribution arm.

Recessions are like house guests. Both tend to arrive when you're not ready and stick around longer than you want. Now that the recession is here, the next question is when will it end. Bond fund investors hope the answer is: not too soon. Their reasoning is simple. Interest rates usually move lower during periods of economic contraction, and that helps push up bond prices.