Fiduciary Rules and Practices
Top leadership at the Department of Labor (DOL) has indicated that the department will not bend on its fiduciary rule, but then again, it may. Bad cop, good cop?Not entirely. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez and Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)...
READ MORE
Millennials appear to be a pretty cocky bunch when it comes to investing — though they are inclined to turn to advisors for help, according to a new survey.They’re confident about the market: 71% of Millennial investors predict a bull market in the next one to three years, compared with 50% of Baby...
READ MORE
There is a sizable number of pre-retirees and retirees who do not enlist the assistance of a professional when devising a financial plan for their retirement, according to a recent study. It also takes a look at how they do in the effort.The study, by the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute, found...
READ MORE
Suppose a 403(b) participant whose spouse signed a waiver elects his foundation as his beneficiary. Can such a distribution be made? In Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us.
READ MORE
Financial reporting standards the Government Accounting Standard Board (GASB) set in place in Statement 74 last year are effective for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2016. This affects a variety of retirement plans that provide postemployment benefits other than pension benefits (OPEB)....
READ MORE
“Data security is a team sport.” That’s how FIS Chief Risk Officer Greg Montana summed up cybersecurity efforts at a June 20 session of the SPARK National Conference held in Washington, DC. The panel included not only experts from the private sector, but also Deputy Assistant Secretary for...
READ MORE
Less than a year till zero hour on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary rule. And while it is imminent but not formally implemented just yet, it’s already having an effect — and panel discussions at the June 20-21 SPARK National Conference in Washington, DC offered insights into those effects...
READ MORE
U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) have teamed up to introduce legislation that would create a federal lost and found designed to help stem leakage from retirement accounts.According to its sponsors, the bill uses the data employers are already required to report to...
READ MORE
It didn’t happen until late in the evening, but the U.S. House of Representatives voted on June 22 on overturning President Obama’s veto of Congress’ resolution to kill the Labor Department’s fiduciary regulation. The party line vote — 239-180 — fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to...
READ MORE
The Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing on June 15 to examine ways to leverage prizes and technology to influence savings behavior.The hearing featured testimony from Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies President Catherine Collinson that focused on a new research report...
READ MORE
A strong majority of attendees at a recent conference for executives, investment professionals and registered investment advisors expect that changes to their technological systems will be necessary in order to comply with the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule. An even greater majority expect...
READ MORE
The three lawsuits filed against the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary regulation in the Northern District of Texas could be coming together. The DOL has filed an “unopposed motion to consolidate cases” with the court, arguing that: all three actions challenge the same agency rulemaking...
READ MORE
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver recently included a segment that was deeply critical of the financial services industry and specifically referenced the 401(k) plan that the show’s production company has with John Hancock. Here’s John Hancock’s response.“As could have been inferred from the...
READ MORE
You may have missed it, but you’ll likely be hearing a lot about John Oliver’s take on retirement savings, financial advisors, small plans, and the fiduciary regulation. Warning: It isn’t pretty.HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” spent about 20 minutes talking about those issues,...
READ MORE
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White told the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on June 14 that her agency is indeed working on a fiduciary rule of its own, but will not be issuing it anytime soon. She made her remarks in testimony to the committee as part of...
READ MORE
Last week, House Republicans released the first of six documents detailing their policy agenda, a portion of which included recommendations to “build retirement security through the private retirement system.” The most notable aspect of the report, however — a blueprint from the Task Force on...
READ MORE
A TPA’s personnel says that 403(b) accounts are individual contracts and refuses to change the contracts to a group contract. In Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us whether they will honor the asset exchange, liquidate the assets and transfer them to the new TPA on an individual basis if the...
READ MORE
This year, there were three named tropical systems in the Atlantic Ocean by June 5 — the first time ever that there were three named storms by such an early date. And two of them made landfall in the United States. With the official Atlantic hurricane season just begun (the National Oceanic and...
READ MORE
Two more lawsuits have been filed charging the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary regulation with a host of “sins” and shortcomings. One was filed by the Indexed Annuity Leadership Council (IALC), an association of insurance companies that offer fixed indexed annuities, along with several...
READ MORE
As expected (and promised), President Obama has vetoed Congress’ resolution that would have nullified the Labor Department’s fiduciary regulation. “The outdated regulations in place before this rulemaking did not ensure that financial advisers act in their clients’ best interests when giving...
READ MORE
Pages
Most Popular
