The Markets February 4, 2009

Another Newspaper Announces Match Suspension

The St. Petersburg Times has joined the ranks of newspapers freezing pay and suspending 401(k) plan company match contributions.
Reported by

In a letter Tuesday, Paul Tash, chairman, CEO, and editor, told employees that starting April 1, the company will suspend match contributions to its 401(k) plan. In addition, Tash said the newspaper will freeze service credits for the company’s pension plan starting April 1.

The letter told employees the pay freeze imposed by the newspaper in June will be extended for another year. Tash has taken a 5% reduction in his pay for the duration of the freeze.

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Tash also announced in his letter that employees who were eligible for an early retirement program last year will be given another chance to participate.

In January, Media General, which publishes 24 daily newspapers and about 275 weekly newspapers and other publications, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Tampa Tribune, announced it will stop matching employee 401(k) deferrals starting April 1 (see “Newspaper Company Suspends 401(k) Match, Profit-Sharing Contributions’).

Media News Group, owner of the Denver Post, announced its match suspension in a December 24 memo to employees (see “Denver Post Latest to Suspend 401(k) Match’).

Products February 4, 2009

Van Kampen Fund Offers Actively Managed Global Diversification

Van Kampen Funds Inc., a subsidiary of Van Kampen Investments Inc., has announced the launch of the Van Kampen Global Tactical Asset Allocation (GTAA) Fund.
Reported by

According to a release, the Van Kampen GTAA Fund has been designed to invest in traditional and non-traditional asset classes across the world and to respond to rapidly changing market conditions. The fund seeks to achieve significant diversification across a range of countries and industries by typically investing in 1,500 to 2,000 equity securities and fixed-income securities of U.S. and non-U.S. issuers, as well as cash, commodities, and currencies.

The management of the fund is led by Van Kampen’s Global Tactical Asset Allocation Team. Van Kampen said the GTAA Fund “uses a top-down, global macro investment approach that provides the freedom and flexibility to best exploit market inefficiencies as soon as they are identified.”

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 More information is available at www.vankampen.com.

 

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