There’s no doubt that traditional indexing is cleaning up at the expense of active managers. But that space can be crowded — with Vanguard and BlackRock dominating and little room for... Read More
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Plan Optimization
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... Read More
BY Fred Barstein | 1/13/2015
The result of the surprising departure of Mohamed El-Erian from Pimco, followed by the stunning exit of Bill Gross: the largest outflow by any mutual fund firm in history. The final tally was $150... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 1/13/2015
In December, Morningstar analysts upgraded three U.S. mutual fund ratings, downgraded five fund ratings and assigned three new ratings. The upgraded funds are: Fidelity Intermediate Bond... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 1/12/2015
Alternative funds have grown from $33 billion to $456 billion in the last 10 years, according to Lipper data. But their lack of liquidity may spur new rules from the SEC, as the commission’s... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 1/9/2015
Long-term U.S. Treasury bonds were up 3% in the first week of January, following a blowout 2014 in which they rocketed up 30% — one of the five best years of all time. So are investors, wary of... Read More
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... Read More
BY John Ortman | 1/8/2015
Which will do better over the next 20 years: large cap or small cap stocks? Growth or value? Paul Merriman is calling out John Bogle on his recent prediction that the answer is large caps and growth... Read More
BY John Ortman | 1/7/2015
For some time now, different researchers have predicted that once the Baby Boomers begin to retire, equity returns will suffer. The theory is that retirees are less inclined to invest in stocks given... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 1/5/2015
The popularity of annuities featuring guaranteed minimum income benefit riders, or GMIBs, tends to surge following market downturns like in 2000 and 2008. Conversely, during market advances like we... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 12/30/2014
Milliman has compiled a list of 10 ideas plan sponsors can adopt in order to improve their retirement plans — and perhaps make it a bit easier on their plan advisors as well: Create... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 12/30/2014
All disbursements from a retirement plan scheduled to be made at the same time are treated as a single distribution even if they are sent to multiple destinations. That new rule becomes mandatory as... Read More
BY Jerry Bramlett | 12/17/2014
As noted in a Dec. 15 Bloomberg article, “VIX Note Volume Proving Prescient as Volatility Surges,” the VIX, “a measure of trader anxiety that has spent most of the year hovering... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 12/10/2014
Recently I meet a DCIO wholesaler at a conference who was promoting his firm’s newly developed target-date funds. I asked about their emerging market (EM) allocation and he said that their... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 12/10/2014
Though auto features have made dramatic improvements to DC plans, they can be blunt instruments, essentially assuming that one size fits all. Now Buck Consultants has applied for a patent on a... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 12/3/2014
By 2019, 88% of all new contributions will go to target-date funds, according to a recent report from Cerulli (free registration required). The report also predicts that the market share of custom... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 12/2/2014
Does your retirement plan have a qualified default investment alternative (QDIA)? Have you worked with plan sponsors who have, or who have considered, adopting a QDIA? What type of QDIA was selected... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 12/1/2014
The number of companies offering lifetime income options remains fairly low, at just 12%, according to a new report. While that’s twice as many as in 2012, the percentage of plan sponsors... Read More
BY Fred Barstein | 11/26/2014
Cerulli is predicting that TDFs, which seem to dominate DC plans today, will garner as much as 90% of new contributions by 2019. That’s good news for firms with a viable TDF strategy, but... Read More
BY Jerry Bramlett | 11/20/2014
“Every sweet hath its sour, every good its bad,” Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his essay, “Compensation.” So it seems to be the case with the two main asset allocation... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 11/17/2014
A new report claims that employees are less likely to take a loan from their 401(k) account if their company also offers an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP). The report by Fidelity... Read More
BY Jerry Bramlett | 11/11/2014
As evidenced by the increasing use of passive investments in DC plans, investment costs have become increasingly influential in terms of how plan sponsors and their advisors select investment... Read More
BY Jerry Bramlett | 11/6/2014
Early this year, a Market Watch article, “100% of Economists Think Yields Will Rise Within Six Months,” reported that “economists are unwavering in their assessment of where yields... Read More
BY John Iekel | 11/5/2014
We hear a lot about how well Americans are saving — or not — for their retirement. Legg Mason Global Asset Management has unveiled EZ IRA, a payroll deduction IRA program intended to... Read More
BY Ronald J. Triche | 11/5/2014
Have you worked with plan sponsors who have, or who have considered, adopting a qualified default investment alternative (QDIA)? The Government Accountability Office (GAO) wants to hear from... Read More
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