Data & Research

While market volatility and geopolitical events are major concerns for advisers, a new study suggests most aren’t utilizing strategies that can address these issues, such as strategic beta.

Women must save more than men to build an equivalent nest egg, NerdWallet finds.

Higher growth in account balances was found among consistent IRA owners.

“If interest rates continue to climb, the funded ratio could make some major gains,” says Zorast Wadia, at Milliman.

Concerns expressed in a survey included fiduciary exposure, high costs and operational hurdles such as recordkeeping issues, among other things.

Also, the Spectrem survey reports it’s the first-time investors regularly utilizing the technology instead of employing human advisers. 

The Investment Company Institute is making the case that individual retirement accounts are an integral part of America’s retirement savings system.

The 2016 PLANSPONSOR DC survey also found 403(b) plans are also more likely than other DC plans to offer systematic distribution options in their plans.

 Along with a revamped version of its company website, Ascensus plans to lead a series of technological enhancements in 2017.

Federal data collection efforts to date have captured little information on retirement accounts holding unconventional assets—such as real estate, precious metals, private equity, and virtual currency. 

However, small and mid-sized business owners survey by The Pew Charitable Trusts do like the idea of auto-IRAs and other ways to provide retirement plans to employees.

A new series of white papers from Fiduciary Benchmarks asks the challenging question, “Who has the job of determining whether an adviser’s compensation is reasonable?”

A new study suggests 78% of Americans are stressed about their financial future regardless of income, but they can reverse this trend by exhibiting specific behaviors.

Looking to 2017 and beyond, investors must accept that expectations for market returns over the next 10 to 15 years have declined for most asset classes. 

Today, investors are enjoying retirement income costs lower by as much as 14% versus a few months ago, according to BlackRock’s CoRI Retirement Indexes.

The oldest segment of respondents is likelier to say they don’t make enough money to worry about financial planning.

However, concerns towards fiduciary risk decreased—with less than 11% of plans citing it as a top concern.

A wide-ranging economic analysis suggests the top 1% continues to earn vastly more in the markets than the average U.S. citizen; but the middle class is gaining ground...

More than 87% of respondents to a survey believe employer-sponsored student loan contribution programs are significant.

In light of heightened regulatory pressure, advisers are reevaluating portfolio management strategies to generate sufficient retirement income in a low-interest-rate and cost-sensitive environment.