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| Products, Deals & People | |
| Insurance broker and benefits provider NFP expanded its employee benefit offerings with the acquisition of EBS/Foran Insurance and Advisory Services, Inc. The Massachusetts-based Foran, with locations in Dennis and Northborough, specializes in designing health and welfare benefit plans for employers.Read more > | |
| Sun Life Financial says a new partnership with Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. expands its ability to deliver insurance products and employee benefit solutions. Gallagher clients on the Gallagher Marketplace private exchange can now access a variety of Sun Life products, including voluntary short-term disability, long-term disability, life, accidental death and dismemberment, critical illness and cancer insurance.Read more > | |
| The Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS) has issuee a unique request for proposals (RFP) for investment strategies that can favorably exploit the recent melt-down in global petroleum markets. The RFP is posted on the OCERS Web site under the Investments section at www.ocers.org. Proposals are due no later than January 18, and there will be a pre-bid teleconference for registered bidders on January 9, 2015. According to OCERS CIO Girard Miller, “We are exploring the available options to deploy our capital strategically and timely in light of the recent plunge in crude oil prices and the anticipated shake-out in the American energy industry. OCERS will consider both equity and debt strategies in this competitive procurement.” | |
| From the Magazine | |
| Between a Rock and a Hard Place | |
| Individual annuity contracts—from which Tim Walsh, head of investment services at TIAA-CREF in Boston, contends many 403(b) plans were built—are now causing confusion for some 403(b) plan sponsors. It’s an opportunity for both plan providers and consultants to offer some helpful expertise to plan sponsors as they redesign their investment menus, says Walsh. Based on 2007 Treasury regulations, the current regime for 403(b) plans requires more plan sponsor oversight of participant activities and investments, and when an investment vehicle is owned by individual participants, this is very hard to do. In addition, can a plan sponsor with an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)-governed 403(b) truly carry out its fiduciary duties with individual annuity contracts as plan investments?Read more > | |
| Economic Events | |
The Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand fell 0.2% in November. This decrease followed a 0.2% rise in October and a 0.1% decline in September. In November, the index for final demand goods fell 0.7% and prices for final demand services rose 0.1%. THE ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: Tomorrow, the Census Bureau will report about housing starts for November. Wednesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will reveal the consumer price index for November. Thursday, the Labor Department will issue its initial claims report. | |
| Market Mirror | |
Friday, the Dow plunged 315.51 points (1.79%) to 17,280.83, the NASDAQ fell 54.57 points (1.16%) to 4,653.60, and the S&P 500 closed 33.00 points (1.62%) lower at 2,002.33. The Russell 2000 decreased 14.51 points (1.24%) to 1,152.45, and the Wilshire 5000 lost 329.06 points (1.54%) to finish at 21,009.83. On the NYSE, 3.2 billion shares traded, with a near 4 to 1 lead for decliners. On the NASDAQ, 2.8 billion shares changed hands, with 2.5 declining issues for every advancing issue. The yield for the 10-year Treasury note and 30-year Treasury bond were 2.083% and 2.737%, respectively. WEEK’S WORTH: For the week ending December 12, the Dow fell 3.78%, the NASDAQ closed 2.66% lower, and the S&P 500 lost 3.52%. The Russell 2000 was down 2.54%, and the Wilshire 5000 decreased 3.52%. | |
| Investing | |
| Institutional Investors Face a Complicated 2015 | |
| Pension funds and other institutional investors believe they will meet their long-term return objectives, a new Natixis Global Asset Management survey shows, but most are worried about increasing market correlations and the challenge of earning stable short-term returns in the current environment.The Natixis 2014 Institutional Investors Survey suggests institutions are struggling to generate sufficient and reliable short-term returns within traditional asset-allocation strategies.Read more > | |
| Strategic Insight, an Asset International company, revealed net new investment in stock and bond funds was robust in November, with inflows totaling $52.7 billion. Net intake for equity products totaled $34 billion in November, led by a $23 billion inflow to U.S. equity.Read more > | |
| Small Talk | |
| ON THIS DATE: In 1791, Virginia became the last state to ratify the Bill of Rights, making the first ten amendments to the Constitution law and completing the revolutionary reforms begun by the Declaration of Independence. In 1896, the U.S. government awarded Patent Number 573,174 to inventor Stephen M. Balzer for a gasoline-powered motor buggy that he built two years earlier. Balzer never mass-produced any of his cars, but his “experimental” vehicle was one of the first functioning automobiles to be built in the United States. In 1877, Thomas Edison patented the phonograph. In 1944, an aircraft carrying legendary bankleader Glenn Miller went missing over the English Channel en route to France for a congratulatory performance for American troops that had recently helped to liberate Paris. In 1966, Walter Elias “Walt” Disney died in Los Angeles at the age of 65. In 1998, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on the Judiciary released a 265-page report recommending the impeachment of President Bill Clinton for high crimes and misdemeanors. In 2001, Italy’s Leaning Tower of Pisa reopened after a team of experts spent 11 years and $27 million to fortify the tower without eliminating its famous lean. | |
| SURVEY SAYS: DC Plan Success Measures | |
| Last week I asked NewsDash readers, “How often does your company benchmark the success of its defined contribution (DC) plan?” and, “What measures are looked at?” All respondents work in a plan sponsor role. The majority (91.7%) reported they benchmark the success of their DC plans once per year, while the rest (8.3%) do so every five years. When the plan is benchmarked, 91.7% measure average participation rate, and the same percentage measure administrative expenses compared to peer plans. More than 83% measure average deferral percent, and 100% measure investment expenses compared to peer plans. More than 58% measure the percentage of participants properly diversified in investments, and 41.7% measure the percentage of participants getting the full match. Nearly 42% measure participants’ use of educational materials/website, and one-quarter measure the percentage of participants on track to replace a certain income level in retirement. I also asked respondents to measure the importance of each of these metrics to assessing the success of their DC plans.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 > | |
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Editorial: Alison Cooke Mintzer alison.mintzer@strategic-i.com
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