Deals & People January 12, 2010

IRS 403(b) Expert Joins VALIC

VALIC has hired Robert J. "Bob" Architect, formerly senior tax law specialist and 403(b) guidance author in the Internal Revenue Service's Employee Plans Division, as vice president of Compliance and Market Strategy.
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According to a VALIC announcement, in his new role, Architect will help VALIC continue to enhance business and compliance strategies for supporting employers and helping to meet the needs of their retirement plans. He will also be instrumental in developing key educational content, including articles and white papers, to continue his efforts in assisting plan sponsors and their counsel navigate through rules and regulations.

Architect will report to Glenn Harris, executive vice president, Group Management and National Markets for VALIC.

Architect is a recognized expert in the 403(b) industry, responsible for drafting recent 403(b) regulations as well as a number of guidance pieces affecting the 403(b) marketplace (see “Architect of IRS 403(b) Regs Says Limited Formal Guidance Coming”).

From 1975 to 2009, Architect served as senior tax law specialist with the Employee Plans Division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Starting in 1978, his specialty was in the area of 403(b) tax-sheltered plans. Architect spearheaded the IRS’s public outreach and educational efforts in this area, having made well over 200 presentations as well as numerous Web casts (see “403(b) Relief Is Good News for Plan Sponsors”).

In addition, starting in 2000, Architect was involved in governmental and tax-exempt 457 plans and most recently had been working on regulations under section 457(f) of the Internal Revenue Code. Architect was also actively involved in the IRS’s examination efforts concerning these plans, which included organizing and leading national 403(b) and 457 training sessions for IRS field examiners.

“After 35 years of working to shape the 403(b) landscape and educate the market, with VALIC, I can work directly with plan sponsors, plan participants, and a company that shares my passion for outreach, education, and plan compliance solutions,” said Architect, in the announcement.

The Markets January 12, 2010

ETFs See Healthy Asset Gain

Last year was kind to the exchange-traded-funds (ETFs) market, with a whopping 45% jump in assets over the year to $775.8 billion as of December 31, according to the latest data from State Street Global Investors.
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A State Street report said December assets were up $36.4 billion, or 4.9% over November. Year over year, the number of ETFs was up by 10%.

The data also showed investors were apparently particularly keen on commodity ETFs (a 105%-asset jump for the year), fixed-income ETFs (up 78% for the year), and international ETFs (also up 78% for the year).  Fixed-income funds crossed the $100 billion mark for the year with a 2.1% December increase and a 78.3% year-over-year hike.

The size and international categories saw the biggest leaps in absolute terms, up $20.8 billion and $5.3 billion, respectively, in December over the previous month. Gains in the size category saw the large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap areas with $16.5 billion, $1.6 billion, and $2.6 billion December increases, respectively.

Among the sector funds, only Energy and Consumer Staples fell in absolute terms. The REIT, Technology, and Utilities sectors were all up over $1 billion in December.

Black Rock, State Street, and Vanguard continue to dominate the ETF market, according to the data. Together, the three account for 84.1% of the U.S.-listed ETF market.

The top three U.S. ETFs in terms of dollar volume traded for the month were the SPDR S&P 500, iShares Russell 2000, and PowerShares QQQ. 

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