SAN FRANCISCOAt an open forum during Charles Schwab & Co.s annual conference, one Schwab advisor asked Randy Merck, the firms president of investment management, for assurance that the firm would not end up in the headlines for mutual fund improprieties. You wont see that, Merck said, flatly. We dont anticipate any problems. About 36 hours later, he was proven wrong. In the wake of Friday mornings

byWill Leitch