Slow to gain traction in defined contribution plans, a new survey suggests that workers would invest in ESG options—if they knew about them.
According to the Schroders 2021 US Retirement Survey, 9... Read More
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ESG Investing
BY Ted Godbout | 5/11/2021
Amid ongoing questions surrounding the use of private equity investments in professionally managed funds within 401(k)s, a senior Labor Department official confirmed that the department is conducting... Read More
BY Ted Godbout | 5/11/2021
Although many investors may not be aware of the link between 401(k) plan investments and the voting power these investments carry, a new report suggests that it’s only a matter of time before proxy... Read More
BY Ted Godbout | 4/28/2021
There’s a lot of buzz surrounding environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing, but what exactly is it and what is it trying to accomplish? The results from a new survey of institutional... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 4/21/2021
Environmental, social and governance (ESG)-focused investing is of increasing interest to investors, plan sponsors and regulators. So keeping up to date on what’s happening is becoming even more... Read More
BY Ted Godbout | 4/12/2021
During examinations of investment advisers, registered investment companies and private funds engaged in ESG investing, SEC staff have observed instances of potentially misleading statements,... Read More
BY Ted Godbout | 3/10/2021
A March 10 announcement by the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration provides a precursor to the direction it plans to take on the recently finalized rules. ... Read More
BY Michael P. Barry | 3/9/2021
How do/should we “value” environmental and social governance (ESG) investments? Here’s how the Department of Labor (DOL) summarizes its final ESG regulation:
“The amendments [revising ERISA... Read More
BY Ted Godbout | 3/3/2021
The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that its 2021 examination priorities will include a greater focus on conflicts of interest for brokers and advisers, as well as climate-related... Read More
BY Ted Godbout | 2/17/2021
Sustainable investing apparently is starting to hit on all cylinders for U.S. fund investors, as funds not only saw record flows for the fifth year in a row, but in many cases outperformed their... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 2/2/2021
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that Satyam Khanna will serve as Senior Policy Advisor for Climate and ESG—a new role—in the office of Acting Chair Allison Herren Lee.... Read More
BY Ted Godbout | 1/28/2021
Plan sponsors remain hesitant to add alternative asset classes to their target date funds (TDFs), but a new paper argues that such investments might be one way to improve the success of DC plans.... Read More
BY Ted Godbout | 1/21/2021
As expected—and as has routinely been done in recent memory along with a change in administrations—the incoming Biden administration moved to immediately pause all pending and recently issued... Read More
BY Judy Ward | 1/8/2021
In the cover story of the latest NAPA Net the Magazine, Judy Ward takes a look at the new thinking on the use of environmental, social, and governance factors in 401(k) plans.
Are we at... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 11/16/2020
The Labor Department’s final rule on “Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments” has just been published in the Federal Register—and its implications for plan investments, notably ESG—will be... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 11/13/2020
As October wound to a close, the Labor Department unveiled its Final Rule on Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments—and while the proposed rule spent a lot of time on ESG, the final—well, it... Read More
BY Ted Godbout | 11/13/2020
The Department of Labor’s final rule preventing plan fiduciaries from selecting investments based on non-pecuniary considerations and requiring them to base investment decisions on financial factors... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 11/9/2020
As October wound to a close, the Labor Department unveiled its Final Rule on Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments—and while the proposed rule spent a lot of time on ESG, the final rule—... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 10/30/2020
The final rule on ESG investing by ERISA plans steps away from the proposed rule’s focus on ESG.
Indeed, the Labor Department notes that “unlike the proposal, the final rule’s operative text... Read More
BY Brian Graff | 10/22/2020
In late June, the Labor Department issued a proposed rule innocuously titled “Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments.”
While the proposed rule itself was relatively short and largely... Read More
BY Ted Godbout | 10/9/2020
Despite the growth in ESG interest within the institutional investing community, DC plan adoption of dedicated ESG options is still relatively low, according to new survey results.
This finding... Read More
BY Ted Godbout | 10/2/2020
Even with the various barriers to adoption, most DCIO asset managers expect to increase their DC-focused ESG marketing and distribution efforts during the next 12 months, according to a new report... Read More
BY Ted Godbout | 9/14/2020
Take everything you think you know about Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing and throw it out because the wave is here, according to a Sept. 11 workshop session at the 2020 NAPA 401... Read More
BY Ted Godbout | 9/10/2020
Kicking off the first-ever NAPA Cyber Summit on Sept. 9, NAPA Executive Director Brian Graff, along with Preston Rutledge, former head of the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration,... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/9/2020
The Labor Department has been probing ESG investment decisions, both by plan sponsors and those who counsel them—and now a recipient of those inquiries has stepped up to not only share those... Read More
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