| | Products, Deals and People | | Retirement Industry People Moves | | A new pension risk transfer consultant at Channel Financial Pension Services, Groom Law Group adds executive compensation expertise, and CalPERS starts CEO search.Read more > | | Wells Fargo Sees Growth in CIT Use | | Wells Fargo announced it has experienced a 37% increase in the number of collective investment trusts (CITs) being offered in retirement plans it recordkeeps, and a 57% increase in CIT assets, from the end of 2012 to end of 2015. “Without question, we’ve seen more growth in the small to mid-size plan market,” Jeff Kletti, head of Investments at Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust in Minneapolis, tells PLANSPONSOR. Wells Fargo’s CIT offerings make CITs more accessible to small and mid-market plans.Read more > | | | Economic Events | | THE ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: Tomorrow, the Census Bureau will report about construction spending in January. Thursday, the Labor Department will issue its initial claims report, and the Census Bureau will report about factory orders for January. Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will reveal the unemployment rate for February. | | | Market Mirror | Stocks ended a strong week on a flat note as lower oil prices and utility stocks offset encouraging economic news, according to the Associated Press. The Dow decreased 57.32 points (0.34%) to 16,639.97, the NASDAQ was up 8.27 points (0.18%) at 4,590.47, and the S&P 500 was down 2.46 points (0.13%) at 1,949.24. The Russell 2000 increased 5.61 points (0.54%) to 1,037.18, and the Wilshire 5000 slipped 16.67 points (0.08%) to 19,892.29.
On the NYSE, 3.1 billion shares changed hands, with 1.6 advancing issues for every declining issue. On the NASDAQ, 2.6 billion shares traded, with a near 2 to 1 lead for advancers.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note decreased 9/32, bringing its yield up to 1.755%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond fell 23/32, increasing its yield to 2.633%.
WEEK’S WORTH: For the week ending February 26, the Dow was up 1.51%, the NASDAQ gained 1.91%, and the S&P 500 increased 1.71%. The Russell 2000 climbed 2.69%, and the Wilshire 5000 finished 1.74% higher. | | | Compliance | | DOL Plans Study of Retirement Strategies | | The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) is planning to undertake a long-term research study to develop a panel that will track U. S. households over several years in order to collect data and answer important research questions about how retirement planning strategies and decisions evolve over time. The agency is requesting comment about the planned study.Read more > | | Plan Sponsors Can Skip Form 5500 New Compliance Questions | | The big news after the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released the Form 5500 for the 2015 plan year was the addition of compliance questions. Once “strongly encouraging” plan sponsors to answer the new questions, the IRS is now telling them to skip them.Read more > | | | Small Talk | | ON THIS DATE: In 1860, the first electric tabulating machine was invented by Herman Hollerith. In 1940, Hattie McDaniel became the first black person to win an Oscar when she won Best Supporting Actress award for her role as Mammy in “Gone with the Wind.” In 1944, Dorothy McElroy Vredenburgh of Alabama became the first woman to be appointed secretary of a national political party. She was appointed to the Democratic National Committee. | | SURVEY SAYS RESPONSES: Last week, I asked NewsDash readers how prepared they feel for retirement, but I was more curious about whether they are following some of the suggestions they or their advisers and providers give their employees? Among responding readers, nearly three-quarters (73.5%) feel they are adequately saving for their desired standard of living in retirement. Given a list of common suggestions offered to employees for optimizing retirement savings outcomes, responding readers do a good job of making sure retirement savings investments are properly diversified (70.2%), and deferring enough so that total savings (employer and employee) is at least 15% (66%). However, less than one-third (31.9%) increase their savings rate each year, and only 12.8% have made a written plan for saving for, and spending in, retirement. Verbatim responses reflected some regrets and obstacles that can derail retirement plans are just as real for plan sponsors and providers as for participants. Many offered more suggestions for saving adequately, and several asked how it is possible to know if savings are adequate. Editor’s Choice goes to the reader who said: “How can you really ‘know?’ Social Security is questionable at best if you’re middle-aged or younger, markets are incredibly volatile, health care is a disgrace… okay, now back to the work of encouraging people to save!” A big thank you to all who participated in our survey!Read more > | | Share the good news with a friend! Pass the NewsDash along – and tell your friends/associates they can sign up for their own copy.Read more > |
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