Short Interests: Miller may have some accounting to do

It looks as though the latest person to join the mutual fund industry’s short list of corporate governance activists is holding a stock that has been tossed into the same accounting scandal heap as Enron Corp.

Bill Miller, manager of the Legg Mason Value Trust in Baltimore, counted Waste Management Inc. as his top holding as of Dec. 31.

Last Tuesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit against a half-dozen former executives of the Houston-based company, accusing them of inflating earnings by $1.7 billion as part of an accounting fraud from 1992 to 1997.

The SEC also charges that Arthur Andersen LLP, embroiled in the document-shredding controversy with Enron, helped perpetrate the Waste Management scheme.

In the $11.76 billion Value Trust, Waste Management’s stock accounted for 6.78% of assets. In fact, as of Sept. 30, Mr. Miller’s portfolio was the biggest mutual fund holder of the stock.

A Legg Mason spokeswoman says updated information about the fund’s holdings should be available this week.

Mr. Miller joined the call for better corporate governance in December when he told InvestmentNews he intends to pressure companies to do right by investors.

Renewed quest to tame Everest

Obviously, the increased risks in today’s mortgage banking market were not enough of a challenge for thrill-seeker Al Hanna.

So, the 71-year-old Chicagoan left last week to attempt a scaling of Mount Everest – for the fourth time.

Mr. Hanna is trying to become the oldest person to reach the mountain’s 29,035-foot summit. He has come close before – climbing to within 325 feet in 2000 – but has never made it to the top.

“I love living on the edge. I love risk,” says Mr. Hanna, president and CEO of Mid-North Financial Services Inc., which does about $400 million in mortgage loan transactions a year. “It’s unfinished business before I go to the great beyond.”

This time around, he has done visualization training for the last 300 feet, so he won’t be overwhelmed like last time. His physical training still includes hiking up and down a 30-foot hill near his Chicago home carrying a 60-pound pack. He and his guide, Vern Tejas, expect to reach the summit about May 25.

CFP exam fits the GI bill

Military veterans could get federal reimbursement if they take the certified financial planner exam. The Department of Veterans Affairs authorized reimbursement of the exam’s $595 fee nationwide as of Jan. 8 following acceptance by the Colorado state Approval Agency for Veteran Education and Training under the VA’s licensing and certification approval system.

Once the certification program meets state criteria for reimbursement, it is made available for veterans nationwide, according to the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. in Denver. Veterans can qualify for reimbursement for up to 10 years after military service.