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.

With the markets tumbling, a recession on the horizon and people growing increasingly fearful of losing their jobs, more parents are delaying saving for their children’s college education, Investment News reports. Sales of 529 plans fell 33% in the first six months of the year to $6.3 billion, down from $9.8 billion a year earlier.

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.

Following recent talk of 401(k) debit cards and tighter credit, it was bound to happen that homebuyers would turn to their 401(k) to help finance a home purchase, despite warnings against doing so from most financial advisers.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - Mutual fund industry leaders admit that years of deregulation allowed the current economic crisis to unfold, and many are anticipating a backlash of new and excessive regulations to result.

Fidelity Investments' institutional wealth management arm is ratcheting up its pursuit of financial advisers and wealth managers who want to run their own shops.

For many investors, buying into and saving for the retirement American dream is no longer a reality, according to a new survey from AARP of 1,628 workers over age 45, conducted last month.