Finding Retirement Security
Stable value is in a new stage of growth and stability. At the height of the financial crisis in the last quarter of 2008, stable value funds held about $347 billion of the assets in defined contribution plans. That number rose to $423 billion by the end of 2009 or 22 percent as investors sought out less volatile investment options. By the […]
A Consultant’s Perspective on Stable Value
A lot changed in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, including the way retirement plan sponsors and their advisors think about stable value funds. “Twenty years ago, clients wanted a fully benefit responsive, competitive yield from their stable value fund, with no onerous restrictions if they wanted to cancel their contract,” observes plan consultant Angelo Auriemma. “Then the financial crisis hit, […]
Marketplace Realities: Opportunities for Stable Value
Addressing the SVIA’s annual Fall Forum 2012 in Washington, D.C., Eric Levy, senior vice president, Product Solutions Management for Lincoln Financial Group, declared that for many retirement plan participants, the investment landscape now appears dramatically more risky than it did five years ago. Following the stock market crash that began in 2007, he noted, nearly a third of the participants in defined contribution plans who […]
SVIA Quarterly Survey in Stable Times
SVIA’s Quarterly Characteristics Survey demonstrates the virtues of stable value: consistent positive returns, principal preservation as well as having the lowest correlation to stocks as compared to other investments, which means stable value can act as a diversifier. For the third quarter of 2012, stable value fund assets included in the survey were $445 billion, […]
SVIA Elects Four Board Members
While not nearly as controversial as the national elections, the SVIA Board of Directors election held in October 2012 featured incumbents both retaining and losing seats, and the unanimous approval of a plan sponsor running unopposed. The field of candidates was especially strong this year with seven highly qualified candidates, three of them incumbents, running for only […]
SVIA-LIMRA Stable Value Sales and Assets Survey in Stable Times
The SVIA-LIMRA Stable Value Sales and Assets Survey demonstrates the durability of stable value funds. The biannual Sales and Assets survey differs from other Association surveys, not only because it is conducted in partnership with LIMRA, but also because of the survey respondents. Most SVIA surveys focus on stable value managers. The Sales and Assets Survey respondents are the bank and insurance company issuers […]
Insiders Assess Stable Value Issues
Stable value “insiders” are a diverse lot. Among others, they include stable value asset managers and contract issuers, banks and insurance companies, retirement plan sponsors and retirement plan consultants. All share the same overarching goal of providing consistently positive returns for retirement plan participants, yet each views the asset class from a slightly different perspective. In a […]
Moody’s Fires a Shot Across the Bow of U.S. Treasuries by Considering Downgrade
On September 11, 2012 Moody’s provided an update on the outlook for the US Government’s credit rating. In this update, Moody’s stated that budget negotiations in 2013 will likely determine the direction of the US government’s current Aaa rating, with negative outlook. The scale of any potential downgrade seems to be limited, as Moody’s indicated it would probably expect to lower the rating to […]
Prudential Economist Sees Continued Strong Case for Bonds
Just a year and a half ago, investors were worried about what a rising interest-rate environment would do to bond portfolios. After all, interest rates were already at extraordinarily low levels in many sectors of the fixed-income market, and it seemed that rates had nowhere to go but up. Rising interest rates, of course, translate into falling […]
