401(k)

Everywhere you look these days, people are talking about green cars, green energy, greenhouse gases and even green mutual funds. This new demand for all things green is enough to make some money managers green with envy.

Faced with economic difficulties, almost one out of every five, or 18%, of Americans are dipping into their 401(k) savings, Bank of America found in its annual Retirement Savings Survey.

Target-date funds may certainly be increasing in popularity, but the tools to help financial advisers sort through the available choices are sorely lacking. That was the finding of a recent poll of 168 advisers to defined contribution plans, conducted by Harris Interactive for JPMorgan Funds.

Don't believe the retirement income hype.

First the good news. The average 401(k) plan balance is down only 14% this year to $68,000 from $79,000 in 2007, according to Hewitt Associates. And since the precipitous decline in the stock market of the past few months, only 4% of participants have decided to stop contributing.

The financial turmoil in the markets is far from over, and mutual fund firms can expect assets to continue to decline further, investors to remain skittish, and regulators to be reactive well into 2009, experts say.

Advocating a sort of clean slate for all investors in 401(k) plans, Vanguard issued a report Thursday suggesting that all plan sponsors reenroll participants into qualified default investment alternatives (QDIAs).

Hoping to capitalize on the continued popularity of exchange-traded funds even as the markets continue to tank, Barclays Global Investors has introduced a suite of target-date ETFs for 401(k)s.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will not revisit 12b-1 fees by the end of the year, Andrew Donohue, director of the division of investment management, told Reuters.

Van Kampen Funds on Tuesday launched the family of Van Kampen Retirement Strategy Funds. The nine target-date funds, with target retirement dates in five-year increments between 2010 and 2050, plus a fund for those already retired, are based on investment strategies determined by Russell Investments and are designed to provide broader diversification and lower risk than other target-date funds.

PALM BEACH, Fla. - Capturing 401(k) rollovers has been top of mind for mutual fund companies for years. Now, with billions of dollars flowing out of equity funds, $682 billion in September alone, mostly into cash, capturing 401(k) rollovers and moving money out of cash and safe bets back into equities is the name of the game.

PALM BEACH, Fla. - Insurance companies and mutual fund firms are jumping on the bandwagon to provide guaranteed retirement income solutions, but experts say these types of investment options won't see wide adoption rates among the general public until they become a qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) in 401(k) plans.

Spurred by Americans' investment losses this year, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) is calling for a re-examination of 401(k) plans that could lead to a radical overhaul of the popular tax-deferred savings vehicles, Pensions & Investments magazine reported last week.

Asset management firms are increasing their sales and marketing budgets for the defined contribution investment only marketplace by 28% this year, according to a report from Sway Research called “Best Practices in DCIO Sales and Marketing.”

General Motors recently announced it would stop matching employees’ 401(k) contributions. Sadly, that’s likely to become the norm at many companies, especially if the economic crisis deepens and lasts into next year or beyond, USA Today reports.

MFS Investment Management has formed a defined contribution investment only (DCIO) business development office, to be headed by Matt Gannon, who now assumes the title of senior vice president and director of DCIO and strategic alliances.

Few people know as much about mutual funds as Matthew P. Fink. For more than 40 years, Fink dedicated his career to serving the industry and its 88 million shareholders through his work for the Investment Company Institute, serving as its president from 1991 to 2004.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - Despite the recent daily thousand-point swings in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the understandable uncertainty among investors, Individual Retirement Accounts and 401(k) plans still remain American's dominant and trusted retirement vehicles.

Mutual of Omaha is now offering retirement advice in its 401(k) Toolbox, a service called Manage It For Me.

Talking about the volatility of the stock market may not be as popular as trading jibes over sports scores, but more investors, certainly, are taking an interest in the incredible gyrations of the market.