401(k)s Investment Products

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Firm Tells Retirees: ‘Don’t Fear 65’

Symetra Financial Challenges Retirees to Be Fearless

Fidelity Standardizing, Virtualizing Data Center

Plans Also Include More Strategic Use of Servers

Zacks SMA Solution for Mid-Size Retirement Plans

Based on FOLIOfn Platform

401(k) Contributions Hold Steady

Contributions Averaged $3,187 in First Half of Year

Fewer Hispanics, African-Americans in 401(k) Plans

Participation in Other Financial Products Also Lower Than General Population

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Companies Gear Up For XBRL Reporting

The Securities and Exchange Commission could mandate the use of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) in mutual fund risk return summaries by as early as the first quarter of next year, according to industry experts, putting many fund companies on the data-tagging fast track. XBRL US, the U.S. version of the international consortium, has joined forces with Andover, Mass.-based mutual fund data provider NewRiver to make sure public companies, mutual funds and credit rating agencies are ready in time.

Labor Department Proposes 401(k) Fee Disclosure

The Department of Labor on Tuesday proposed requiring 401(k) plan fiduciaries to supply investors with standard account summaries that will clearly state fees, expenses and any administrative costs such as legal, accounting and recordkeeping charges-in actual dollars. Plans will also have to provide performance figures and comparable benchmark returns, information on investment options and how to obtain more detailed information, including education and/or advice. The Labor Department projects the disclosure will result in $6.1 billion in savings for investors between 2009 and 2018, a third of it due to lower fees due to increased transparency. That works out to a savings directly related to fees of $2.1 billion, or $225 million a year.

Retirement Assets Reach $17.6 Trillion, ICI Reports

Despite difficult market conditions, Americans continued to save more for retirement last year, according to the Investment Company Institute.

401(k) Debit Cards: Dumb and Dangerous

It's bad enough that 40% of workers in their 20s and 30s cash out their 401(k)s when they switch jobs, even though taxes and penalties decimate the balances to almost half, according to a CMI survey of 1,200 people in January commissioned by Fidelity. Worse, even, a small percentage of 401(k) participants take out loans or hardship withdrawals from their retirement savings, which average only $122,000 in the first place, with a national median balance of $66,000, data from the Investment Company Institute and the Employee Benefit Research Institute shows.

401(k) Plans Move to Collective Trusts

BOSTON - Workers love pension plans, but providing 20 to 30 years of benefits to a huge retired workforce can cripple most companies' profits. As more firms drop their defined benefit pension plans in favor of defined contribution 401(k)s, institutions are looking for qualified default investment alternatives to mutual funds, such as collective investment trusts (CITs) and separately managed accounts (SMAs), to provide employees with pension-like features.

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