Portfolio

Investors looking to hedge the continuing slide of the U.S. dollar may want to consider investing in one of Rydex’s eight CurrencyShares exchange-traded funds.

John Hancock Variable Annuities has launched a new value-added program that aims to help advisors expand their business by developing guaranteed retirement income plans for their clients.

Nearly 80% of fund administrators are concerned with the manual process in current use for reporting and documenting fund information, according to a survey recently released by data management firm Confluence.

Despite difficult market conditions, Americans continued to save more for retirement last year, according to the Investment Company Institute.

The Department of Labor on Tuesday proposed requiring 401(k) plan fiduciaries to supply investors with standard account summaries that will clearly state fees, expenses and any administrative costs such as legal, accounting and recordkeeping charges-in actual dollars. Plans will also have to provide performance figures and comparable benchmark returns, information on investment options and how to obtain more detailed information, including education and/or advice.

BOSTON - Excessive fees in some 401(k) plans are hurting the reputation of all 401(k) plans and shaking investor confidence in what most financial experts agree is a great way for the majority of Americans to save for retirement.

BOSTON - Workers love pension plans, but providing 20 to 30 years of benefits to a huge retired workforce can cripple most companies' profits.

PLYMOUTH, Mass. - The bewildered looks on the faces of young patients in the children's ward of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute were wrenching enough. For Frank Strauss, who had himself become a parent in 1995 to his first child, Nicole, only three months before, the helplessness etched on their parents' faces was far worse.

It's bad enough that 40% of workers in their 20s and 30s cash out their 401(k)s when they switch jobs, even though taxes and penalties decimate the balances to almost half, according to a CMI survey of 1,200 people in January commissioned by Fidelity.

Investors alleging wrongdoing by their stockbrokers can choose to go to court or face an arbitration panel of three people, including one person from the brokerage industry and two from the public.