Retirement benefits

Adding rollovers and IRAs to the definition of fiduciary duties, the Department of Labor's new proposed rule could have a huge impact on firms in a fast-growing and profitable segment of the retirement savings industry.

Retirement product providers say that they continue to struggle with reluctant employers and misinformed employees about the benefits of their offerings.

The demands of Baby Boomers nearing retirement have pushed product providers to market their offerings as not just investments, but also financial wellness tools to manage retirees' lives.

Among the wealthiest clients, Fidelity and Vanguard retain their perennial leadership positions in firm perception, but there is room for others to advance their brand, according to a new study on investor sentiment toward insurance and retirement investment product providers.

A big jump in clients’ risk appetite is why the Retirement Advisor Confidence Index climbed 2.3 points in December, reaching a five-month high of 54.

The pursuit of yield has driven both advisors and investors toward newer, more complex ETFs and closed-end funds — products that use leverage, employ derivatives, deal in options and futures, sell short and so on. When such funds are held in clients’ IRAs they can generate additional problems for advisors, creating tax headaches and raising questions about investor suitability.

The industry saw Bill Gross attracting $769 million to Janus, the global ETP market breaking an asset record, a prediction on how much of 401(k) contributions that target-date funds will capture by the end of the decade and a J.P. Morgan executive joining Wilton, Conn.,-based Commonfund as CEO.

Bill Gross’s exit unleashed a crisis that Pimco is still trying to contain. His departure was followed by record withdrawals from the mutual fund he once ran, and which he built into the world’s biggest.

Though private, non-traded REITs have very high loads and ongoing expenses, low cost REITs can have a place as alternatives in our clients' portfolios.

Variable annuity net new sales are expected to surge in the coming years after taking a dive in 2012, according to research firm Cerulli Associates.

As Roth 401(k) plans continue to spread, young workers increasingly are voting to go Roth. In the first quarter of 2013, 10% of all participants in Wells Fargo-administered defined contribution plans contributed to a Roth 401(k), when available, up from 8.9% a year earlier. Leading the way were employees under age 30: 16.9% chose the Roth route, a jump from 15.2% participation in last year’s first quarter. (Only 4% of participants in their 60s chose the Roth version this year.)

T. Rowe Price Group has no immediate plans to begin offering active exchange-traded funds, the Baltimore Business Journal reports.

Wilmington Trust and BlackRock Institutional Trust Company are joining hands for a new suite of retirement funds.

Two-thirds of active U.S. equity assets are managed by defined contribution investment only managers, says a new joint report from FUSE Research Network and BrightScope.

Neuberger Berman Group has announced it will begin offering a zero-sales-charge share class.

New may not always be better, but it is what the retirement industry needs right now.

So how do Americans really feel about retirement saving and investing?

What's State Street Global Advisor's next big destination for expanding its retirement business? 

Word to the wise sponsor when it comes to target-date funds: No, not any QDIA will do, and bigger companies aren't always better.

Charles Schwab Corporation continues to tout low fees with the announcement of first-year results for Schwab Index Advantage.