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Fred Barstein
By Fred Barstein | 6/13/2013
ICI has released research, partly from a study conducted by Deloitte, on fees in 401(k) plans. The research compares them to fees paid by retail investors and sheds some light on the impact of various plan designs on them.In general, fees paid by investors in 401(k) plans were much lower than those...
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By Fred Barstein | 6/12/2013
For participants in plans managed by Vanguard, the news was very good at the end of 2012. Account balances grew by 10%, with the median growing 67% since 2007, the worst investment period in recent history. A fifth of the 3.4 million Vanguard participants contributed 10% or more, with 11%...
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By Fred Barstein | 6/12/2013
Moving from a wirehouse to be a pure RIA is a difficult and daunting proposition, with only an estimated 500-1,000 reps taking the plunge. Research shows that spousal support is important. But Focus Financial, an RIA roll-up firm with $55 billion under management, has decided to include tuck-ins of...
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By Fred Barstein | 6/11/2013
Perhaps concerned about FINRA’s suggestions that it should take over all advisor examinations, members of the Investment Adviser Association lobbied Congress last week in support of a bill introduced by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) that would increase SEC fees on IRAs to fund more examinations....
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By Fred Barstein | 6/11/2013
ETFs continue to struggle to gain traction in the DC market, with little or no interest in the large market for plans with more than $100 million and tepid interest at best in the smaller markets. The reason? Plan sponsors are able to get index funds, collective trusts and SMAs for the same cost,...
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By Fred Barstein | 6/10/2013
In the first of a three-part series, blogger Chris Carosa reviews why having too many choices actually hurts participant outcomes. While that’s no secret, Carosa, citing research from Columbia befi professor Sheena Iyengar, provides some concrete reasons and promising solutions. Some people are...
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By Fred Barstein | 6/10/2013
In a white paper prepared by BNY Mellon, retirement head Rob Capone suggests that returns in DC plans lag DB plans because of limited diversity and too high a percentage of assets in equities. The white paper suggests that the right combination of real estate, emerging market debt and liquid...
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By Fred Barstein | 6/7/2013
According to research by Cerulli, assets flowing into managed accounts continue at a torrid pace, with market leader Financial Engines showing a 35% increase in 2012. Overall, assets in managed accounts grew to $108 billion, with other leading providers like Morningstar, Guided Choice and Fidelity...
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By Fred Barstein | 6/7/2013
The SEC has proposed its long awaited rule on money market funds. The rule was instigated as a result of the run on MMFs after the 2008 crisis, when many funds broke the buck. But rather than propose one type of MMF, the SEC’s proposed rule allows for two types of MMFs depending on their underlying...
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By Fred Barstein | 6/6/2013
Substantial information and resources are available for registered fixed income instruments, equities, mutual funds and ETFs; however, the same cannot be said for stable value assets/products. The duty to monitor, evaluate and act with prudence is ever-present for plan sponsors and retirement plan...
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By Fred Barstein | 6/5/2013
According to Mercer, Australia has the second best retirement system, following only Denmark. (The U.S. is ranked ninth.) One of the reasons is their “Superannuitization” pension plan, which has $1.52 trillion — or about half the assets in U.S. 401(k) plans, though the U.S. has 14 times the...
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By Fred Barstein | 6/5/2013
The DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration announced that it has approved a process for JP Morgan, acting as custodian, and ADP as record keeper, to terminate and wind up 180 abandoned plans. Plans are considered abandoned if a qualified termination administrator determines that the...
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By Fred Barstein | 6/5/2013
Why is the pace of innovation so slow in the 401(k) market? According to UCLA Professor Shlomo Benartzi and Duke professor John Payne in a recent P&I article, there’s little upside and a lot of downside for plan sponsors to take risks, with government afraid of creating bad policy. They propose...
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By Fred Barstein | 6/4/2013
At last week’s Rand Behavioral Finance Forum, academics, government officials and industry people gathered in Washington to share ideas and research on how behavior finance can help consumers with a focus on retirement. Only one record keeper, Hugh O’Toole from MassMutual, presented — among a bevy...
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By Fred Barstein | 6/3/2013
The Investment Company Institute just published a guide to important retirement plan metrics that busy plan advisors may want to keep handy. For example:• How large are the assets in 401(k)s?• How many people have a 401(k)?• Where is the money invested, including asset allocation?• What were plan...
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By Fred Barstein | 6/3/2013
The Employee Benefit Research Institute, which has the most extensive database of DC plans (with detailed information on more than 60,000 plans and 24 million participant records), also has a rich IRA database with more than 20 million records. As more money pours into both traditional and Roth...
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By Fred Barstein | 5/31/2013
Behavioral science seems to be the most promising way to help address the looming retirement crisis, with auto-plan features having a tremendously positive impact over the last decade. But it seems like we’re just at the beginning of exploring other simple yet effect ways to help people save more...
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By Fred Barstein | 5/31/2013
No, it’s not a cash balance plan. EFI, an actuarial firm in DC, has proposed what it call a “Double DB” which replicates the funding scheme in a DC plan but within a traditional DB plan. The Double DB two tiers: • a regular DB, which should be fully funded; and • a “Partner DB,” which is funded...
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By Fred Barstein | 5/30/2013
As an indication that the DOL’s EBSA will be more active in bankruptcy cases where an ERISA plan is abandoned, the agency has filed suit in the Northern District of New York to have an independent fiduciary be appointed to administer the plan and distribute assets. The defunct Syracuse construction...
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By Fred Barstein | 5/30/2013
According to a recent Barron’s article, ING may be a legitimate candidate for a takeover. The article cites a report by a BTIG analyst who thinks the stock is undervalued. ING, now trading as Voya, went public in late May at $19.50/share and is now trading in the mid-$20 range. ING’s Dutch parent...
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