'Within an open multiple employer plan would exist a guidance platform--the Retiree MEP--where participants could receive objective information about retirement saving and distribution,' said Ted Goldman, Senior Pension Fellow...
Ireland establishes guidelines for master trusts
Ireland’s government is exploring several pensions and welfare reforms, including changes to the state pension, new protections for defined benefit plans and participants, and the introduction of automatic enrollment....
With HSAs, raising contribution limits will raise contributions: EBRI
House passed a bill raising contribution limits to health care savings accounts (HSAs). The Employee Benefit Research Institute expects individual contributions to HSAs to rise as a result.
Ascensus acquires two TPA firms
Continental Benefits Group, Inc., and 401kPlus will be folded into Ascensus' TPA Solutions division, Ascensus announced this week.
Prudential sells $923 million group annuity to Raytheon
The agreement transfers the responsibility for paying certain pension benefits to approximately 13,000 U.S. retirees, as well as their beneficiaries, from Raytheon’s previously discontinued operations.
June was a ‘risk-off’ month for equities: Morningstar
‘With the global population aging and many investors focused on capital preservation, equity demand among fundholders remains tepid,’ said the Morningstar Direct Asset Flow report for June.
‘Freedom’ is the key to Sammons’ new variable annuity
'The unique feature is the Freedom Date,' said Bill Lowe, CEO of Sammons Retirement Solutions. 'If you buy this at age 60, at age 80 you have 100% access...
RIAs should beware the stress of success: Cerulli
'As firms surpass $1 billion in assets, they reach a new phase in their business lifecycle,' said Kenton Shirk, a director at Cerulli, in a release.
RIJ and others urge Senators to take action on retirement
A non-partisan group of eleven academics, researchers and journalists, including RIJ's Kerry Pechter, promised to help Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Todd Young convene a Retirement Security Commission.
Inside the Beltway, pro-retirement proposals pile up
To incentivize small employers to offer retirement savings plans to employees, Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mark Warner (D-VA) have introduced the SIMPLE Plan Modernization Act (S.3197), which is...
Honorable Mention
Vanguard publishes 'How America Saves'; Milliman reports on rising pension funded ratios; Lincoln Financial adds financial wellness offering.
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Schwab adds 11 new ETFs to its OneSource platform, LIMRA says Asians spend 11 fewer years saving for retirement than Americans, Hueler introduces stable value fund evaluation tool, Prudential...
Fidelity extends ESG lineup
Fidelity also became a signatory of the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and created an ESG Office in its Asset Management division.
Asset managers tweak their value proposition: Cerulli
'Asset managers are dropping fees on asset management products to near zero, instead choosing to charge for asset allocation,' says Cerulli analyst Bing Waldert.
Ascensus to buy INTAC, a third-party administrator
Ascensus, based in Dresher, PA, supports more than 60,000 retirement plans, more than four million 529 education savings accounts, and a growing number of ABLE savings accounts.
Misperception in UK: Auto-enrollment means adequacy
Employer contributions are viewed as the key to retirement savings adequacy in Europe; auto-enrolling participants by itself won't get them there, IPE.com reports.
Over half of today’s retirees have pensions
In May, the Federal Reserve published a Report on Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2017. We offer a summary and a link to the document.
Honorable Mention
Late-breaking items from OneAmerica, Principal Financial, Northwestern Mutual, Lincoln Financial, and Orion Advisor Services.
Americans have $100 trillion in wealth and $15.7 trillion in debt
Credit card balances represented about 6.6% of disposable income in the first quarter, down from almost 9% a decade ago.
Global Atlantic annuities to be available on Envestment platform
Global Atlantic’s fixed-rate and fixed index annuities will be available to Envestnet users at banks, broker-dealers, independent insurance agencies and RIAs.