Spitzer May Charge Former Fund Manager

New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer may file charges as early as today against former mutual fund manager Gary Pilgrim for engaging in improper short- term trading of his company’s funds, people familiar with the situation said.

The case against Pilgrim, 63, co-founder of Pilgrim Baxter & Associates, would be the first brought by Spitzer against a fund manager in the broadening investigation of the fund industry. Former money managers at Putnam Investments have been charged by Massachusetts regulators. It wasn’t clear what charges would be filed.

Pilgrim wasn’t available for comment, and a spokesman for Pilgrim Baxter declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Spitzer wasn’t immediately available for comment.

In other fund developments, Fidelity Investments, the biggest U.S. mutual fund company, and John Hancock Funds received subpoenas from Massachusetts and New Hampshire regulators this week as part of an industrywide probe of improper trading.

Boston-based Fidelity was asked for information by Massachusetts about the trading records of international stock fund managers, spokeswoman Anne Crowley said. It was a request for details and not a statement of wrongdoing, she said. John Hancock Funds said it had received a similar subpoena.