401(k)

Consultants to 401(k)s and other defined contribution plans are carefully analyzing, and in some cases replacing, the plans’ money market, stable value, inflation protection and target-date offerings, PIMCO found in a survey.

Young adults between the ages of 23 and 28 are more worried about being “financially fit” than “physically fit,” Charles Schwab found in a survey of 1,252 people conducted in January.

Putnam Investments has hired Benjamin H. Lewis as managing director of defined contribution sales and relationship management. A 23-year veteran of the 401(k) industry who began his career at Fidelity in 1986, Lewis most recently was senior vice president for Fidelity Employer Services Co.

A last-minute Bush administration regulation that would permit advice in 401(k) plans was called into question Tuesday by a number of consumer advocates and other experts who testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

PALM DESERT, Calif. - The United States is determined to show the world it is leading global economic recovery efforts, even if that means creating what some in the industry view as risky new risk regulators.

Stable-value funds, available in such tax-deferred accounts as 401(k)s, have been attracting a lot of attention lately, having returned 4.7% in 2008, compared to the Dow’s 33.8% decline, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Putnam Investments has launched a new defined contribution platform for financial advisers and plan sponsors, using recordkeeping from FASCore, another subsidiary of parent company Great-West Lifeco.

A last-minute Bush administration regulation that would permit advice in 401(k) plans was called into question Tuesday by a number of consumer advocates and other experts who testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Mutual funds have been able to thrive for the past 85 years thanks to their ability to adapt to changing markets and help investors stay diversified during good times and bad.

Long live the 401(k) match. Seventy-four percent of plan sponsors who had a 401(k) match in place are still honoring that promise, according to the American Benefits Council. And 15% have either increased the match or are considering doing so.

OppenheimerFunds has launched a new educational campaign, including personalized communications, to allay 401(k) investors’, plan sponsors’ and financial advisers’ concerns about market volatility. Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab, likewise, are conducting seminars and ad campaigns to walk investors through the merits of sticking with the markets and revisiting risk tolerance.

Congress is considering whether to make major revisions to the fair-value accounting rules that have created so much controversy lately. Possible changes include suspending the rules, improving value-at-risk measurements and reinstating the uptick rule.

The mutual fund industry is eager to hear the outcome of a U.S. Supreme Court case that could determine the fate of the Gartenberg standard, an old legal precedent used to determine whether mutual fund fees are too high that has set a high burden of proof for investors and spared the industry from lawsuits.

Despite the plummeting economy, most 401(k) participants are staying calm and behaving normally, according to 2008 year-end data from the Investment Company Institute.

Approximately 37% of investors are participating in target-date funds when their employer offers one, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Putnam Investments will waste no time reinvigorating its defined contribution business, and its long-struggling equity funds will have to earn their way into the mix, according to Robert L. Reynolds, its president and chief executive.

Over the past year, as the S&P 500 has hit 1997 levels, the U.S. gross domestic product shrank 6.2% in the fourth quarter of 2008 and investors' retirement savings have been severed in half, we have hailed the resilience of investors' faith in the markets. Our customers have continued to believe in the soundness of investing in mutual funds, the premise of long-term investing and modern portfolio theory, and the overall wisdom of saving for retirement.

In order to achieve meaningful reform of the financial services industry, Congress should create two key regulatory positions to oversee financial markets, according to a proposal last week by the Investment Company Institute.

In response to the market downturn and wide confusion among investors about what they should do, Charles Schwab has published a number of articles on its website offering guidance. Schwab is also holding seminars at its branches, town hall discussions and webcasts.

For the first time in seven years and after the sorry lessons of Enron and WorldComm, investors poured more money into company stock, $65 million, than they did any other investment category in January, according to Hewitt Associates.Betting on one’s own company’s success at a time of massive job layoffs is not seen as a terribly wise decision. “In this economy, you’d expect people to move in the other direction, trying to diversify their risks,” Pamela Hess, director of retirement research told The Wall Street Journal.“Obviously, they’re not understanding what they’re buying,” added Shlomo Benartzi, an economics professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.Today, two-thirds of employees in 401(k)s with more than 5,000 employees are offered company stock, and about 8% of employees invested in company stock have 80% of their portfolios invested in it.It is possible that instead of matching employee’s contributions in 401(k)s, employers are offering stock, experts said.