Introducing the Virtual RIA

By Kerry Pechter
Internet start-up Personal Capital is out to prove that mutual funds and face-to-face financial advice are obsolete. (At center, CEO Bill Harris, with Jim Del Favero, VP, product management (seated) and Ehsan Lavassani, engineering director.

Political Football

By Kerry Pechter
The Dept. of Labor's bid to strengthen the fiduciary standard for advisers to retirement plans and IRAs became a political football. Now the DoL has agreed to revise and "re-propose" its proposal. Was the football fumbled... or stripped?

Who Is ‘Too Big to Fail’?

By Editorial Staff
Concerned that your insurance company might be designated a SIFI (Systemically Important Financial Institution)? Then read Deloitte's primer on SIFIs. Here's a synopsis and a link.
Featured

The Four Most Common Questions about VAs

By Editor Test
Investors have been asking Moody's if variable annuity issuers have made their products safer, and how Moody's evaluates the safety of VA guarantees. For answers, Moody's turned to the issuers themselves.
News

Advisor loyalty to fund firms is in flux: Cogent

By Editor Test
'Last year, DFA and BlackRock were the only Stars in our mutual fund company commitment ranking,' said Cogent principal John Meunier. 'This year, a total of four firms made it into the top tier.'

The Bucket

By Editorial Staff
Brief or late-breaking items from DST, New York Life, CEIBA, and Putnam.

401(k) Reforms: More Enviable Than Viable

By Editor Test
Proponents of 401(k) reform met defenders of the status quo in a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Sept. 15. The reforms have some justification, but they could hurt the very people who decide whether to sponsor a plan or not.