ERISA’s Increasing Importance
By Randy Myers The stock market crash of 2007-2009 threw into stark relief the shortcomings of the U.S. retirement system. Millions of Americans are responsible for their own retirement security via 401(k) plans, and as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 50 percent, many of them saw their retirement dreams jeopardized. Now, with more […]
Dodd-Frank: An Update on Stable Value Contracts
By Randy Myers Approximately a year and a half after passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, federal regulators have yet to hand down final rules on how the swaps market will be regulated. Dodd-Frank specifies that swaps—a term used broadly to cover just about any type of over-the-counter […]
Dodd-Frank: Implementing the Law through Regulations
By Randy Myers When Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010, says Scott Talbott, it wrote a check regulators cannot cash, at least in the time frame Congress allotted. Dodd-Frank has been called the most sweeping reform of financial regulation in the U.S. since the Great Depression. To date, […]
Plan Sponsors, Service Providers Prep for New Fee Disclosure Rules
By Randy Myers Barring any last-minute postponement by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), retirement plans and their service providers will face a new set of compensation disclosure requirements beginning April 1, 2012. The new requirements are spelled out under Section 408(b)(2) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA. They specify that “covered […]
Focusing on Stable Value Pooled Funds: Wither the 12-Month Put?
By Randy Myers Would changing one of the most common features of pooled stable value funds help bring more wrap capacity to the stable value marketplace? The feature in question is the 12-month notice that retirement plan sponsors must typically give to a pooled fund if they want to exit the fund and no longer […]
Stable Value Viewed with Increasing Favor by Plan Sponsors and Consultants
By Randy Myers In the aftermath of the credit crisis, stable value funds are looking more attractive to many retirement plan sponsors and their consultants. In the spring of 2011, The Vanguard Group surveyed sponsors of defined contribution plans and consultants who advise them. The primary goal was to gauge how much attitudes have changed […]
Stable Value: Issuers’ Perspectives
By Randy Myers At the right price, it appears, some new players are prepared to step into the stable value wrap business after all. In the wake of the 2008 credit crisis, when wrap issuers were earning only about seven basis points on the stable value portfolios they insured, some began leaving the business. The […]
Debt and Deficit Crisis: Navigating the Realities of a Deleveraging
By Randy Myers The 2008 housing bust and credit crisis may be fading into the rearview mirror of history, but they are continuing to drive developments in financial markets and much of the global economy. After triggering what has been termed the Great Recession, the financial market crisis has left the developed world contending with […]
Evaluating Pooled Fund Risks under Extreme Conditions
By Randy Myers Rising interest rates can be a challenge for stable value funds, and after years of falling rates, many in the stable value industry are wondering how they will react when rates finally do rise. Their attention is focused especially on pooled funds, since a single pooled fund can manage assets for hundreds […]
