401(k)/IRA
Yale's $7 billion 403(b) plan offers TIAA's RetirePlus Pro target-date solution to its 27,000 active and retired participants. The portfolios use Vanguard and TIAA CREF funds, and a liquid...
How to Solve the World’s Retirement Crisis
Retrofitting 401(k) plans with lifetime income options is one of the thorniest challenges of our time. We describe three possible solutions to that puzzle, from Nobelist Robert Merton and...
Income annuities are “best solution for DC plans”: Cerulli
But 64% of respondents to a Cerulli survey cited low demand for guaranteed retirement solutions—despite the 2019 SECURE Act’s provision of regulatory protections for offering annuities. Cerulli is also...
Retirement Clearinghouse receives investment from billionaire John C. Malone
Malone, chairman of Liberty Media, says that RCH majority owner Robert L. Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, convinced him of the importance of reducing leakage from qualified plans....
Are Target Date Funds the Perfect Vehicle for ‘In-Plan’ Annuities?
'Nearly two-thirds (63%) of target-date managers suggest the first-quarter 2020 period of heightened market volatility will increase client demand for guaranteed investments,' according to a Cerulli Associates analyst.
Principal EASE, a New ‘PEP,’ Offers Income Option
Principal Financial is partnering with National Benefit Services and Wilshire asset management to create Principal Ease, a simplified 401(k) plan that many unrelated firms can join.
Two Cheers for DOL’s Lifetime Income Disclosure
The Department of Labor's 'interim final rule' on disclosure of estimated lifetime income from 401(k) balances is welcome, but it lacks a critical feature. Public comments might improve it.
Another Objection to DOL’s ESG Proposal
The Department of Labor's recent move to chill the use of "Environmental, Social and Governance" investments in retirement plans has drawn broad criticism--including this comment from the Wagner Law...
The Key to Turning On 401(k) Annuities
Micruity, a tech startup with a 30-year-old CEO, says it has the "middleware" that can integrate 401(k) plans and annuity issuers. Will the retirement industry listen?
Wells Fargo’s New Annuity Wagon
Wells Fargo Asset Management's new target-date series of CITs comes with a built-in, optional retirement income strategy: systematic withdrawals plus an annuity starting at age 85.
Lincoln rolls out in-plan retirement income option
The annual cost of the income option is 0.9% of the 'income base.' At age 65, the payout rate for a married couple would be 4.5% of the income...
In robo deal, Empower pays $1 billion for Personal Capital
'There’s a scarcity of pure-play platforms that can drive this technology. That’s one reason why Empower made this acquisition,' Personal Capital co-founder Rob Foregger told RIJ.
Aon launches ‘PEP,’ with Voya as recordkeeper
The 'pooled employer plan' era has arrived, courtesy of the SECURE Act. PEPs could fundamentally alter the defined contribution retirement savings industry in the U.S.
DOL requests input on ‘pooled’ 401(k)s
Are regulations needed to limit the potential for conflicts of interest and self-dealing among non-employer sponsors of "pooled employer" 401(k) plans, or PEPs? The Department of Labor seeks feedback.
Is Employer-Sponsorship of Plans Suboptimal?
'In the wake of the pandemic, retirement and health insurance coverage are likely to be delinked from employer-provided plans in many countries,' writes Olivia Mitchell, executive director of the...
BlackRock Makes a Bundle (with Annuities)
BlackRock, the giant asset manager, is adding a lifetime income dimension to its LifePath target date funds by partnering with Brighthouse, Equitable and Voya on a service that will...
Protect Your Nest Egg with Options
Advisors can help protect their clients from market drawdowns by purchasing puts on the S&P500 Index, writes our guest columnist, the founder and CEO of DALBAR, which rates the...
Can employers contribute less to their retirement plans?
In the current stressed environment, "employers must take steps to remain in business, which means reducing expenses, including their contributions to their qualified retirement plans," say Wagner Law Group...
Turn 401(k)s into Bond Ladders
Franklin Templeton SVP Drew Carrington says his firm's Defined Maturity Funds, which work like bond ladders, could provide retirement income for 401(k) participants, and could be paired with qualified...
Project LIMA Aims to Solve the Annuity Puzzle
Milliman, the actuarial consulting firm, envisions putting a multi-premium deferred income annuity inside a 401(k) managed account as a way to turn tax-deferred savings into lifetime income. It seeks...