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News

Canadian Activist Group Tells Investors: Get Out of Money Funds

FAIR Canada cites minimal returns and high fees.

401(k) Balances Bouncing Back

Younger workers’ portfolios are faring the best due to the market’s relatively bigger impact on smaller balances.

Only 1% Bailed Stock Funds at Height of Volatility

But unlike other rebounds, investors are steering clear of equities, putting $340 billion to work in bond funds instead.

T. Rowe Price Execs Took Pay Cut in 2009

Management took big compensation cuts as firm's assets fell.

Berkshire Beats Entire Fund Universe

Over Past 45 Years Only two funds, Fidelity Magellan and Templeton Growth, come anywhere close.

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Articles

Managers Optimistic About Stocks, Uneasy on Bonds

Investment managers around the world are cautiously optimistic about stocks in the coming year but more guarded about bonds, Towers Watson found in a survey of 98 managers with a total of $13.3 trillion of assets under management. They foresee economic growth, albeit modestly. Managers in the West, however, see a delayed recovery or stagnation, while the East ex-Japan is getting ready for a boom.

New 6% Savings Rate To Funnel $800 Billion to Investments Annually

The financial crisis has made a permanent impression on American consumers, who are likely to save 6% or more of their income over the next decade, translating to as much as $800 billion stashed away each year, according to a new study by Allianz Group. Along with this mentality, investors will be looking for guaranteed and safe savings solutions.

403(b) Group Seeks Common Language

An industry group developing best practices for 403(b) retirement plans is coming closer to streamlining these plans to make them even more similar to 401(k) plans, but first they will have to get everyone to agree to speak the same language. Leaders say the SPARK Institute's work on 403(b) best practices is coming along smoothly, thanks to the cooperative efforts of approximately 50 participating institutions. The latest update, version 1.04, fixes many of these communication issues by requiring a standardized reporting format, which it hopes most institutions will adopt by this July.

Extreme Makeover: 401(k) Edition

Investors are about to test drive 401(k) plans with a 21st Century whole new look and feel. The Department of Labor is promising streamlined rules for 401(k) advice that plan sponsors may actually use (see "Week in Review," page 4). The government is looking into the possibility of offering annuities or other lifetime income options in defined contribution plans.

Estate Tax Expiration Reveals Opportunities

NEW YORK - Financial experts think 2010 could provide many interesting opportunities in the realm of wealth transference, particularly with the temporary, one-year expiration of the federal estate tax and reduction of the gift tax. Thanks to the expiration of the estate tax on Jan. 1, beneficiaries of people who die this year don't have to pay federal taxes on inherited estates. Unless Congress takes action this year, the tax will be reinstated in 2011 to 2001 levels of a $1 million exemption and 55% tax rate above that. President Barack Obama has proposed reinstating the tax at 2009 levels of 45% on anything above $3.5 million, possibly retroactively.

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