Michael Bushnell

IFS Releases 11 Best Practices for Advisors

By Michael Bushnell | 2/2/2015

Seeking to spur the SEC into action on finally creating a universal ethics code for financial advisors, the Institute for the Fiduciary Standard (IFS) has released 11 best practices that they hope professionals will adopt even without government intervention. In a statement, IFS president Knut A... READ MORE

Large Firms Jumping on the ETF Train

By Michael Bushnell | 1/29/2015

Exchange-traded funds are growing in popularity, and a new report from Cerulli Associates says that an increasing number of asset managers are finding new ways to incorporate them into their plans. The domestic ETF market reached $2 trillion late last year, Cerulli reports, more than doubling its... READ MORE

Hey Big Saver: Vanguard Learns from Amazon

By Michael Bushnell | 1/27/2015

Stakeholders from every corner of the retirement plan universe agree that increasing participant enrollment is a top priority. Vanguard believes they can solve the participation problem by learning lessons from an industry that grows every year: online shopping.Rebecca Katz, head of Participant... READ MORE

House Rejects Rep. Waters’ User Fee Bill

By Michael Bushnell | 1/15/2015

During deliberations on the package of 11 bills designed to roll back provisions of Dodd-Frank this week, House Republicans thwarted an effort by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) to attach an amendment allowing the SEC to impose user fees on advisors to fund additional examinations. The Dodd-Frank... READ MORE

Smart Beta: Silly Talk?

By Michael Bushnell | 1/14/2015

In a 2013 Forbes article, “Smart Beta is Silly Talk,” author Rick Ferri states: The attention-grabbing spin on [smart] beta is a creation of investment firms that seek to funnel money into products that may have greater risk and higher fees than low-cost index funds that track markets. Though... READ MORE

Will 2015 Be the Year of Smart Beta?

By Michael Bushnell | 1/8/2015

With bears beginning to growl and prognostications of an upcoming downturn growing ever louder, more investors are kicking the tires on smart beta strategies that combine elements of both passive and active strategies. Smart beta still seems to mean different things to different people — and... READ MORE

Better Together: Maintaining the Advisor-TPA Relationship

By Michael Bushnell | 10/29/2014

Today, plan advisors are partnering with TPAs like never before, providing more robust packages to clients than either could support by themselves. But just like any other team, the partnership can easily fall apart if everyone isn’t working together. At an Oct. 28 workshop at the 2014 ASPPA... READ MORE

Future of Fiduciary Regs Remains Murky

By Michael Bushnell | 10/28/2014

It's been a year since DOL's Phyllis Borzi, addressing the 2013 ASPPA Annual Conference, provided details about how the department planned to proceed with its regulatory initiative reshaping the definition of a plan fiduciary. A year later, in the same room at the 2014 conference, ASPPA’s... READ MORE

Envestnet Acquires Klein Decisions Inc.

By Michael Bushnell | 7/14/2014

Envestnet Retirement Solutions, a leading provider of unified retirement technology and services to retirement advisors, has completed its acquisition of Klein Decisions Inc. Klein is a firm that provides participant advice and guidance solutions to retirement plans. The acquisition marks Envestnet... READ MORE

‘Get on a Plane’ — and Help Protect the Industry

By Michael Bushnell | 2/25/2014

There are few events in American life more awe-inspiring than walking into the Capitol Hill office of your congressman or senator, pulling up a chair, and talking about what you do with the member who represents you in the world’s most powerful legislative body. The plan advisors who got the chance... READ MORE

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Michael Bushnell

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