| Benefits & Administration | Public Plans Data Website Launched | A consortium of public retirement system
research and advocacy groups announced the launch of an enhanced public plans
data website. Available on the site are “Quick Facts” publications, covering
asset allocations and funded ratios at the national, state and plan levels,
among other topics.Read more > | Updating Communications to Retirement Plan Participants | Retirement plan sponsors should revisit their
communications strategies to keep up with participants’ needs and advancing
technology. With each effort to engage retirement plan participants, plan
sponsors should ask, “What is it we’re trying to communicate; do we have a
clear call to action; what do we want to measure; and to what end?” says
Elizabeth A. Piper, participant experience manager at Wells Fargo
Institutional. Plan sponsors have access to all kinds of participant data to
help them see where they stand, Piper told attendees of the 44th Annual
Retirement & Benefits Management Seminar, hosted by the Darla Moore School
of Business at the University of South Carolina, and co-sponsored by
PLANSPONSOR. She said communications should include a next best step for
participants, and plan sponsors should track participant actions.Read more > | | Economic Events | New orders for manufactured durable
goods in March increased $9.3 billion or 4.0% to $240.2 billion, the U.S.
Census Bureau announced. This increase, up two of the last three months,
followed a 1.4% February decrease. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased
0.2%. Excluding defense, new orders increased 2.6%. Transportation equipment,
also up two of the last three months, drove the increase, up $9.5 billion or
13.5% to $80.3 billion.
THE
ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: Tomorrow,
the Conference Board will issue its Consumer Confidence Index for April. Thursday, the Labor Department will
issue its initial claims report. Friday,
the Census Bureau will report about construction spending in March.
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| Market Mirror | Earnings
reports from three large tech companies mostly boosted major U.S. stock indices
Friday. the Dow was up 21.45 points (0.12%) at 18,080.14, the NASDAQ climbed
36.02 points (0.71%) to 5,092.08, and the S&P 500 closed 4.76 points
(0.23%) higher at 2,117.69. The Russell 2000 was down 4.00 points (0.31%) at
1,267.54, and the Wilshire 5000 increased 34.99 points (0.16%) to 22,431.18.
On the NYSE,
3.2 billion shares changed hands, with a nearly even split between advancers
and decliners. On the NASDAQ, 2.8 billion shares traded, with 1.2 declining
issues for every advancing issue.
The price of
the 10-year Treasury note increased 13/32, bringing its yield down to 1.911%.
The price of the 30-year Treasury bond climbed 27/32, decreasing its yield to
2.613%.
WEEK’S
WORTH: For the week ending April 24, the Dow increased
1.42%, the NASDAQ climbed 3.25%, and the S&P 500 gained 1.76%. The Russell
2000 was up 1.25%, and the Wilshire 5000 finished 1.68% higher.
| | Compliance | Groups Ask for More Time to Comment on Fiduciary Rule | Citing “a voluminous amount of information” in
the fiduciary re-proposal from the Department of Labor (DOL), 16 groups wrote
the DOL asking for a 45-day extension of the 75-day public comment period. “If
adopted, the proposal would represent a watershed event touching many facets of
the financial services industry,” the letter said.Read more > | | Investing | Lowest-Cost Funds Dominate Fund Flows | A new Morningstar study shows fund expense
ratios declined again in 2014 as investors across individual and institutional
channels sought low-cost investment products. The research shows the
asset-weighted expense ratio taken across all funds tracked by Morningstar
stood at 0.64% at the end of 2014—down slightly from 0.65% in 2013 and
significantly lower than 0.76% observed five years ago.Read more > | | Small Talk | ON THIS DATE: In
1822, Ulysses S. Grant, Civil War
leader and 18th president of the United States, was born. In 1861, West Virginia seceded from
Virginia after Virginia seceded from the Union during the American Civil War. In
1880, Francis Clarke and M.G. Foster
patented the electrical hearing aid. In 1963,
Margaret Annemarie Battavio’s very first single, “I Will Follow Him,” reached No.
1 on the U.S. pop charts. With her 15th birthday only six weeks behind her, the
singer better known as Little Peggy March became the youngest female performer
ever to top the Billboard Hot 100. In 1965,
“Pampers” diapers were patented by R.C. Duncan. In 1983, Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros
broke a 55-year-old major league baseball (MLB) record when he struck out the
3,509th batter of his career. In 2006,
in New York City, construction began on the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower on the
site of former World Trade Center. | SURVEY SAYS: Peer Influence on Savings Behavior | Last week, I asked NewsDash readers, would
knowing the practices of your peers have an influence on you? Four in 10
responding readers indicated that if given information about the savings rate
and investment choices of those in their age group that are on track for a
secure retirement, that would probably not have any influence on their savings
rate and investment choices because they already feel they are on track for a
secure retirement. However, 17.9% said that information would influence their
savings rate and investment choices. Responding readers were nearly evenly
split on whether they would like the opportunity to discuss ideas for
addressing their savings challenges with others in their age group—48% said yes
and 52% said no. Several readers shared why peer influence is helpful, and one
reader told a personal story about peer influence. Editor’s Choice goes to the reader who said: “I listen to my
financial planner more than my peers.” Thanks to everyone who participated in
our survey!Read more > | Share the good news with a friend! Pass the Dash along – and tell your
friends/associates they can sign up for their own copy.Read more > | News from PLANSPONSOR.com
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2015.
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