Portfolio

LECG Expands Platform With Hiring of Vinella

Rather than stress individual fund performance or investors' malaise in its new advertisements, Fidelity is focusing on providing sound guidance and building on its trusted brand. And that is the focus of the "Guide to Personal Savings" campaign, taglined "Turn Here," Fidelity Chief Marketing Officer James D. Speros told The Boston Globe.

Half of participants in 401(k) plans would like to have the option of rolling their money into a guaranteed income solution, but that does not exist in their plan, MetLife found in a recent survey, its seventh annual Employee Benefits Trends Study. Only 21% of employers said they would consider offering guaranteed income solutions, and only 16% of employers currently offer income annuities in their 401(k) plan.

Frugality Expected to be the 'New Normal'

With new global regulations forthcoming, corporate compliance departments will need to upgrade aging systems and expand automation technology just to keep up. The time for little fixes may be over, and firms cannot use the recession as an excuse for putting investments off.

Equity funds were clobbered in the first quarter of 2009, declining 9.25%, Lipper reported last week. Performance would have been even worse, were it not for a surprise rally in March.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering eliminating the stable, $1 net asset value (NAV) requirement that money market mutual funds have long held, by either making the funds have a floating $1 NAV or a $10 NAV.

All things considered, earning $46 million in 2008 was far less than the $81 million Mario Gabelli of Gamco took home in 2007 and the $81 million he pocketed in 2002, DealBook reports, citing a proxy filing.

Suspending 401(k) matches for just one year can save most companies millions of dollars a year, but doing so can very negatively impact participants’ savings rates and long-term retirement outlook, and should be avoided, according to Hewitt Associates.

PIMCO has promoted 78 of its executives, with 12 now executive vice president, 24 senior vice president and 42 vice president.