Sorry to Burst Your Bubble

By Kerry Pechter
A look at the way bond funds recover from rate hikes and a review of the effect of rate hikes in the 1970s and 1980s on bond funds shows that fears of a bond bubble may be overblown.

The Retirement Income Paradox

By Kerry Pechter
In a survey of advisors on the topic of retirement income, GDC Research and Practical Perspectives found the firm that certain "contradictions" are making it hard for firms to take advantage of the seemingly vast Boomer retirement opportunity.

Big Blue Longevity Dots

By Kerry Pechter
For Prudential Financial’s 30-second Super Bowl ad, its agency built a scoreboard-sized wall in a park in Austin, Texas and recruited hundreds of random Texans to post pie-sized blue stickers on it.

CDAs and the Law

By Kerry Pechter
Contingent deferred annuities (CDAs) are on the minds of insurers these days and took up a fair portion of yesterday’s seminar on securities products of insurance companies at the Practicing Law Institute in New York.
Featured

$300 billion parked with former employers

By Editor Test
After leaving a job and a 401(k) plans, most Americans take five years or more to move their retirement savings into a rollover IRA, according to a new survey of former participants by Cogent Research.

Meir Statman recommends mandatory national DC plan

By Editor Test
“It is time to switch from libertarian-paternalistic nudges to fully paternalistic shoves,” writes Meir Statman, a professor of finance at Santa Clara University, in the draft of a new paper called, “Retirement Income for Non-Savers.”
News

What’s good for General Motors…

By Editor Test
More than one-third (39%) of 230 U.S. DB plan sponsors representing almost five million employees told Aon Hewitt they are “somewhat” or “very likely” to offer lump-sum payouts to terminated vested participants and/or retirees in 2013.

Russell puts its “adaptive investing” model in new TDF series

By Editor Test
According to a Russell release this week, the Adaptive Retirement Accounts, like conventional TDFs, would be a qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) under federal regulations, but would be more customized than conventional TDFs to each participant.

Is NEST a threat to Britain’s private pension providers?

By Editor Test
Launched last October, NEST (National Employment Savings Trust) is a government-supported defined contribution for Britain's under-savers. Changes to NEST that would make it more competitive with private plans are controversial.

US mutual fund assets near the $15 trillion mark

By Editor Test
“Assuming modest economic expansion this year, it is plausible that annual stock and bond fund flows exceed $500 billion, more than 50% above the previous annual record,” said Avi Nachmany, SI’s director of research.