CITs: Private Credit’s Pathway into 401(k) Plans

'Everybody—all the asset managers—are trying to pick CIT dance partners so that they can have product in 401(k) plans,' said Chris Randall at SEI Trust Company. CITs—less regulated, cheaper, and more easily-customized than mutual funds—now house 42% of 401(k) investments.
Guest Column

DOL Proposal Will Block Participant Lawsuits

By Eileen Appelbaum
A plan sponsor, according to the DOL proposal, 'is responsible for the prudent selection of the manager but is not liable for the individual investment decisions of that manager.' So writes the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Corebridge-Equitable Merger: An Aftershock of 2008

By Kerry Pechter
In 2008, Corebridge was still AIG’s retirement business and Equitable had not yet separated from French insurance giant AXA. (Back then, ING-US hadn’t become Voya and MetLife hadn’t yet spun off Brighthouse.) So the new merger, which creates a firm with a market value of $22 billion, might best be seen as another aftershock of the Great Financial Crisis.

What’s Behind Annuities’ Latest Sales Record?

By Kerry Pechter
Gross sales of annuities approached the half-trillion-dollar mark in 2025. Net inflows, though positive, are much more modest. If demand for lifetime income solutions, as opposed to safe tax-deferred accumulation, is driving annuity sales, the evidence is largely circumstantial.

COVER STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

March 2026

Australia’s ‘Super’ Gets a Presidential Shout-Out

By Kerry Pechter
Australia's mandatory defined contribution retirement savings system is "a 'good' system that has 'worked out well' for Australia, the president said from the Roosevelt Room. Mr. Trump is flanked by House Speaker Mike Johnson...
February 2026

Kyle Busch’s Crash Course in IUL

By Kerry Pechter
An indexed universal life policy demands about as little maintenance as an eight-cylinder, 750-horsepower, 200-mph NASCAR stock car. And in the hands of an unskilled, or untrustworthy driver, or pit crew, such a policy...
January 2026

Dutch Pensions Go Collective

By Kerry Pechter
Today’s financial Goldilocks moment—with strong equity returns and robust fixed income yields—creates favorable conditions for the Netherlands to complete its long-planned switch from traditional private defined benefit plans to 'collective defined contribution.' 'You...