Advisors could lose autonomy as a result of regulation: Cerulli
Asking CFP, CIMA or CFA advisors to outsource portfolio construction and management to a third party is tantamount to questioning their purpose in life,' said new research from Cerulli...
An Obama-era retirement savings initiative gets the ax
The program aimed to work in support of private industry, not against it. When MyRA account balances reached $15,000, Treasury bond assets would be liquidated and rolled into private-sector...
Three 401(k) providers take aim at Vanguard and Fidelity
American Funds, Empower Retirement and Voya are now joining Fidelity and Vanguard on plan sponsors’ short-lists of potential recordkeepers, according to Cogent Reports.
U.S. ‘fintech’ investments quadruple in first quarter
Total global fintech investment more than doubled quarter-over-quarter to $8.4 billion across 293 deals, up from $3.6 billion in Q1'17. Of that VC firms accounted for 227 deals worth...
Advisors pivot from high-cost to low-cost active funds
'Fund manufacturers without a low-cost solution are, at best, being ignored and at worst, getting trampled,' said Jeff Tjornehoj, Broadridge's director of fiduciary and compliance research, in a release....
Honorable Mention
Brief or late-breaking items from AllianceBernstein, BrightScope, ARIA Retirement Solutions, Cerulli Associates, Betterment, and MetLife.
Income Solutions wins award from RIJ, adds Nationwide SPIA to its annuity sales platform
Income Solutions is not just a point-of-sale or a provider of price quotes, but also the destination point of a virtual pipeline from 401(k) plans whose sponsors support it...
The beginning of the end of “leakage”?
Retirement Clearinghouse (RCH) completed its first live test of 'auto-portability,' thus demonstrating the feasibility of a nationwide automated network that would ensure that 401(k) accounts followed participants from job...
RetireOne to offer Great-West’s fee-based Smart Track VA with income rider
Smart Track Advisor allows advisors to bill for their advisory fee separately or have the fee (up to 1.50%) deducted from the annuity contract without disrupting any guarantees.
Honorable Mention
Brief or late-breaking items from Jackson National Life, eMoney and Betterment.
Two new House bills would alter Obama fiduciary rule
One bill would mitigate adviser conflicts of interest with new disclosure requirements. The other was a funding bill that included a provision not to enforce the existing fiduciary rule,...
LPL will flatten advisor compensation on mutual fund sales
'Other financial firms have limited or even fully removed brokerage options for retirement investors. But when brokerage is in the best interest of your client, we’re providing a solution,'...
Shift to passive funds slows down in June: Morningstar
The leaders in active flows were American Funds with $3.9 billion and Vanguard with $2.9 billion. On the passive front, Vanguard was first with inflows of $22.7 billion, followed...
Low unemployment is the bright spot in the economy: Chao
'After the failure to repeal and replace Obamacare, it is increasingly unlikely that any major legislation will pass... this year. We expect a difficult September as lawmakers debate the...
Prudential reorganizes five businesses into three main groups
'Each group will have a leader focused on understanding customer needs, experiences and expectations, and applying that understanding to capture growth opportunities within and across businesses,' said a Prudential...
Betterment adds socially-responsible portfolio option
A 42% improvement in social responsibility over Betterment's existing portfolio came from substituting iShares DSI—a broad US ESG stock market ETF—for the portfolio's U.S. large cap exposures, Betterment said.
