Greg Hahn, founder and chief investment officer at Winthrop Capital Management, offers some timely analysis on the flattening of the yield curve and navigating a rising interest rate environment.
According to the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index, June was a slow month for trading in defined contribution plans; when 401(k) investors made trades, they tended to favor fixed income.
Employees of small businesses with retirement plans that include automatic enrollment have far higher participation rates across all demographic variables, according to new data shared by Vanguard.
As an investment professional or a client, there are a lot of reasons to feel positive about the topic of environmental and socially minded investing, but new Cerulli research offers a reminder that not all “ESG” funds are created equal.
When thinking about fiduciary support services and outsourcing, really the important considerations should be about process and time management, more than fiduciary risk transfer.
“Because the Department of Labor views plan loans as investments, they should be treated with the same level of care and scrutiny as any other investment,” says Rob Reiskytl, a partner in retirement consulting division of Aon in Minneapolis.
Variable annuities continue to face challenges in the wake of transaction processing disruptions caused by the now-vacated DOL fiduciary rule; however, experts anticipate sales to recover as business processes normalize and newer product types come to market.
Looking ahead, Vanguard researchers estimate that 77% of participants on the firm’s recordkeeping platform will be invested in a single TDF by 2022.
As of the first quarter, more than $1.5 trillion in student loan debt was outstanding, triple the amount in 2001; with these figures in mind, Franklin Templeton researchers have highlighted the opportunities presented by 529 plans.
Data shared by FTSE Russell, taken from the firm’s annual smart beta survey, suggests the use of “multi-factor combination smart beta index-based investment strategies” by institutional investors has more than doubled since first measured in 2015.
“As they ready their portfolios for the end of the 'Goldilocks' market, U.S. institutions are integrating ETFs more deeply into their portfolio management and investment strategies,” says Andrew McCollum, Greenwich Associates Managing Director.
The latest J.P. Morgan Asset Management Guide to the Markets publication asks the complex but crucial question, at what level of U.S. interest rates should we start to worry about a recession?
A new Cerulli Associates analysis shows institutional custom solutions assets stood at $1.7 trillion at year-end 2016, and assets are projected to grow 10.4% to 1.9 trillion by 2021.
In its discussions with TDF managers, Mercer has found many managers say they have not aligned with the ACWI, and have continued with portfolios that display home equity bias for a number of reasons; the research also shows strong growth in passive TDF market share.
More than 60% of advisers polled by Cerulli Associates agree that client demand for “financial planning” is increasing; at the same time, broker/dealers are refining their digital planning support for advisers in order to retain top talent.
However, they are very responsible with their budgets, with 53% having an emergency fund
Advisers generally are not qualified to represent their clients before the IRS, and so they generally must shy away from offering tax advice; but that doesn’t mean they can afford to ignore the broad or specific implications of recent tax reforms for their clients.