Another week of unexpected challenges has passed and the retirement plan industry continues its efforts to respond to the demands of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Collected below are some recent PLANADVISER stories detailing the key actions of governments, advisers and providers as they seek to ease the economic pain. We hope you find some of what you read helpful and consider sharing with a client or colleague during this challenging time. Stay well!
Investment managers say evidence is already mounting to show an outperformance of ESG-themed portfolios during the coronavirus pandemic. Might that help their popularity in the U.S.?
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Data collected immediately before the pandemic shows retirement confidence was about as high as it’s ever been; more recent data shows that’s still the case, though shorter term worries are ballooning.
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The plan being challenged in the latest fiduciary breach lawsuit held less than $300 million as of the start of last year, making it one of the smallest to become the target of an ERISA complaint.
The main theme of the new fiduciary rule proposal is alignment with other regulators—the SEC and FINRA in particular—but the agency is by no means surrendering its jurisdiction over tax-qualified retirement plans.
Though retirement plans can allow individuals to self-certify that they qualify for a penalty-free coronavirus-related distribution, should the IRS discover otherwise during a future audit, a participant can be subject to substantial penalties.
