Practice

The FBI raided the offices of three hedge funds Monday, beginning its investigation into insider trading, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter. The FBI is planning to raid additional hedge funds, they said.

The average 401(k) retirement account rose nearly 32%, 31.9%, in 2009, according to a report issued Monday by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and the Investment Company Institute. The average balance among those who consistently contributed to their 401(k) plan reached $109,723 at year-end 2009, up from $61.106 at year-end 2003—for an annual growth rate of 10.5%.

Some 51% of respondents have failed to make a rent, mortgage, credit card, auto loan or college loan payment over the last year because they were short of funds.

The papers reported over the weekend that the SEC, FBI and the office of Manhattan U.S. attorney Preet Bharara are readying insider-trading charges against numerous financial professionals.

Two former back office assistants of Bernard Madoff were arrested Thursday, after the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday charged the employees with helping to create phony account statements for his multibillion dollar fraud.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly investigating a complex $1 billion investment deal Citigroup Inc. arranged leading up to the financial crisis.

College savings funds have slashed fees this year, Morningstar reports, making them worth another look.

College savings funds have slashed fees this year, Morningstar reports, making them worth another look.

IndexIQ, an innovator in hedge fund replication and index-based alternative investments, has partnered with institutional consulting firm Rocaton Investment Advisors to bring alternative investments to small and mid-sized 401(k) plans. Rocaton has also made a minority investment in IndexIQ.

Across all income groups, retirement income from employer-sponsored retirement plans is more prevalent among retirees today than in 1975, when sweeping new retirement plan regulations were enacted, most notably the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, according to a report from the Investment Company Institute.