News

In court papers filed last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed for the first time details of its two-year probe into possible fraud at Fidelity Investments.

A federal judge has cleared the way for a former employee of A.G. Edwards to continue pressing forward with his Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) fiduciary breach lawsuit over excessive 401(k) fees.

Approximately half (51%) of women who work with a financial adviser consider themselves “very financially secure″ in their current situation, while only 31% of those without an adviser agree.

As federal regulators continue filling in the detailed framework for the Pension Protection Act’s (PPA) provisions, they are now asking for public comment on the PPA’s investment advice exemption for 401(k) plans and IRAs.

The Department of Labor (DoL) announced it is suing the Iowa Association of Business and Industry over a stock windfall that the organization retained rather than turn over to its member companies’ benefit plans.

A report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) urges Congress to amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to require more comprehensive disclosure to participants on 401(k) plan fees and business arrangements among service providers.

Many Americans may be leaving their retirement savings program on auto pilot, but a majority responding to a recent survey was certain of one thing: they wanted to make basic savings decisions without the government doing it for them.

A survey from AARP Financial has found Californians over age 50 report being overwhelmed with too many choices, turned off by complex prospectus language and not sure who to turn to for advice, and are thus falling behind in their retirement savings.

The Department of Labor (DoL) has announced that a model notice, which may be used by employee benefit plans electing to be treated as a multiemployer plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), will be published in the Federal Register for December 1, 2006.

The Treasury Department and IRS have issued Notice 2006-107 providing transition guidance on the provision of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) relating to diversification rights of plan participants and beneficiaries who have accounts held in publicly traded employer securities.

U.S. Bank Institutional Trust&Custody has agreed to sell its bundled 401(k) plan business to Great-West Retirement Services, but is keeping its defined benefit business.

Morningstar, Inc., announced Wednesday it will collect net returns, in addition to the gross returns, for its collective investment trusts and will provide monthly rankings and Morningstar Ratings against a peer group of mutual funds.

BISYS has announced additions to its retirement plan services that provide education, advice and additional reporting to participants.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have issued Notice 2006-100 providing guidance to executive compensation plan sponsors and participants on how to report certain amounts deferred from executive compensation on Forms W-2 or 1009-MISC for calendar years 2005 and 2006.

Assets of US mutual funds continued their upward march in October, adding $286.6 billion, or 2.9%, to total over $10 trillion, according to the Investment Company Institute's (ICI) official fund industry survey.

A recent study has found that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) baby boomers have more concerns about long-term care in retirement than the general population.

A white paper released by National Retirement Partners, LLC and The Baker Companies discusses how the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (AJCA) and the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) have clarified administration and funding questions for sponsors of non-qualified benefit plans.

Seventy-three percent of plan participants surveyed said they are not overly confident in their investing abilities, according to The Scarborough Group, provider of investment advice and allocation management for 401(k) plan participants.

State Street Corporation has announced enhancements to its suite of compliance offerings that was created in response to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Rule 38a-1 which became effective in October 2004.

The US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio ruled that claims alleging a fiduciary breach by a retirement plan trustee must seek recovery for such breach on behalf of the plan as a whole, and not individual participant accounts.