Iceland’s Tiny But Great Collective DC Plan
I visited Iceland in mid-2022 to interview pension experts in Reykjavik, the capital city and to fish for brown trout in the rivers near Akureyri, a harbor town on...
401(k)/IRA
Of Athene, Pension Risk Transfers, and Fiduciaries
The ERISA Advisory Council recently heard comments on changing the criteria that fiduciaries use when vetting annuity providers in pension risk transfer deals. Athene's vice chairman defended his company's...
Pension experts assess ‘OregonSaves’
Workers in industries and firms with low wages, volatile wages, and high turnover have trouble saving, even in state-sponsored, auto-enrolled Roth IRAs, research shows.
How do 401(k) participants save? Vanguard knows.
Vanguard released its 2022 edition of 'How America Saves,' a compendium of data on millions of Vanguard-administered 401(k) plan accounts. Of participants ages 65+, half had balances under $88k....
Church-affiliated retirement plan adopts Pacific Life longevity annuity
'We are honored to be selected as the provider for the QLAC portion of the LifeStage Retirement Income program,' said Ruth Schau, senior director of Pension Solutions for Pacific...
Envestnet and Kestra co-launch platform for plan advisers
Envestnet's cloud-based platform supports more than 108,000 advisors and 6,000 companies. Kestra Financial, based in Austin, Texas, is part of Kestra Holdings.
In the UK, private equity finds a NEST-ing ground
NEST has been at the forefront of UK’s auto-enrolled master trusts expansion into illiquid assets, but some doubted a private equity manager would work for a low expense ratio.
The ‘Retirement Income Consortium’ is Born
Eight financial giants formed the Retirement Income Consortium to promote income solutions in 401(k) plans and 'develop a vetted due diligence framework' for 'selection and monitoring' of those solutions.
Holy satoshi! Fidelity blesses bitcoin for 401(k)s
But "plan sponsors are overwhelmingly not considering, and will not consider, cryptocurrency a prudent investment option in a retirement plan," a Plan Sponsor Council of America survey shows.
Bloomberg’s Ideas for Overhauling 401(k)s
Bloomberg editors call the existing 401(k) program 'dysfunctional' and a 'morass.' Their critique is valid, but their suggestions are not quite new.
Goldman Sachs acquires NextCapital
NextCapital, based in Chicago, is an open-architecture digital retirement advice provider that partners with US financial institutions. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Europe’s Borderless New DC Plans
After 10 years of preparation, the European Union has created Pan European Personal Pension plans (PEPPs). These will be available to any EU-country citizen working in any EU country....
401(k)s Are a ‘Fraud,’ and Other New Research
Here are five fresh, timely pieces of academic research on retirement-related topics, including the alleged unfairness of the employer-sponsored defined contribution plan savings system.
Our retirement system needs work: Morningstar
The content and tone of Morningstar's new Retirement Plan Landscape Report, from a new Morningstar retirement research group, reflects the crisp, business-like approach that Morningstar's broad audience needs and...
A Policy Dynamo Touts ‘Dynamic Pensions’
Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald, an actuary and retirement policy expert at Canada's National Institute on Aging, claims that a non-guaranteed lifetime income tool could generate more income than any annuities. Tontines,...
Assets in TIAA’s custom RetirePlus TDFs cross $10 billion milestone
TIAA's RetirePlus gives 403(b) plan participants access to a customized target date fund with an investment sleeve that can be turned into lifetime income.
It’s Back: The Norcross-Walberg Bill to Make Annuities a 401(k) Default
Under the bill, participants who are defaulted into an annuity must have 180 days before their premium becomes illiquid, and the participant must receive 30 days notice before the...
RIAs, 401(k)s, and Annuities: Is This the Future?
Managed accounts are one way to build annuities into 401(k) plans. Morningstar is bundling Hueler Income Solutions into its managed accounts, giving participants an easy path to an income...
Pensionizing the 401(k) with Annuities
Historically, workers couldn’t set up guaranteed retirement income streams directly through their 401(k) accounts. But that’s changing, and the annuity industry sees it as a big opportunity, according to...
‘Eagle’ gold coins in a self-directed IRA? That bird won’t fly.
Ms. McNulty bought American Eagle gold coins for her IRA but stored them in a safe in her home. That's not legal, the tax court ruled. Attorney Barry Salkin...
