Designing Balanced DC Menus: Considering Capital Preservation Strategies
If Mark Twain were a defined contribution (DC) participant, chances are he would keep some of his savings in a capital preservation strategy. “I’m more concerned with the return of my money than the return on my money” is one of his most famous (and oft-misattributed) aphorisms. It is a common sentiment, and it explains […]
How To Optimize Your Retirement Accounts: A Case Study
Your retirement account may have a better option than bonds. Click here to read more.
The 2014 Elections and What Will They Mean
Could a Republican takeover of the U.S. Senate make it easier for President Obama to get things done? Republican businesswoman Gwendolyn King, president of the Podium Prose speakers bureau and a former Social Security commissioner, thinks it’s possible. Republicans already control the House. Conventional wisdom posits that gaining a lock on both chambers of Congress […]
A Predictable Surprise: The Unraveling of the U.S. Retirement System
If you think it’s harder for the average American to build a financially secure retirement today than it was a few decades ago, you’re probably right. But the usually cited culprits—the ongoing demise of the defined benefit pension plan, the failure by many individuals to adequately fund their defined contribution plans—aren’t solely to blame. So […]
Outlook and Trends in Defined Contribution Plans
Stocks have been racing higher since 2009, attracting investor attention at the very time that low interest rates have been depressing fixed-income returns. Meanwhile, target-date funds have been attracting an ever-growing share of the money being saved in defined contribution plans, including money that once flowed into stable value funds. But a survey by asset […]
The Quest to Expand the Use—and Value—of Defined Contribution Plans
For employers worried about enrolling employees in their defined contribution retirement plans automatically at contribution levels that are too high, here’s a counterintuitive finding: they should probably be worried about setting them too low. Automatic enrollment effectively forces workers to save for retirement unless they make a conscious choice to opt out of their plan. […]
Stable Value and Target-Date Funds: Experience and Opportunity
“Target-date funds are a freight train running down the tracks,” said Brian Haendiges, senior vice president in charge of investment services for MassMutual Financial Group’s Retirement Services Division, speaking at the 2014 SVIA Spring Seminar. “We’re going to have to find the right way to interact with that phenomenon to stay in business.” Haendiges was […]
Expanding Stable Value’s Reach
It’s time for the stable value industry to think outside the 401(k) box. While the vast majority of stable value assets are held in 401(k) plans, the benefits of stable value funds are too great to be limited to that sector of the marketplace, according to a panel of stable value executives who spoke at […]
New Wrap Capacity Offers More Opportunity for Growth … and Competition
The stable value industry has a new focus on growth. In the aftermath of the 2008 credit crisis, a number of stable value wrap issuers exited the business, constraining the industry’s ability to grow. But over the past few years new issuers have entered the market, and veteran players have increased their appetite for new […]
