Schroders Creates R6 Share Classes for Mutual Funds |
Schroder Investment Management North America, a
wholly owned subsidiary of the global asset manager Schroders, announced the
creation of an R6 share class for a number of its mutual funds. With no
embedded shareholder servicing fees, the new share class provides more
competitively priced products to eligible institutional clients, the firm says.Read more > |
ICMA-RC, a nonprofit independent financial
services corporation, has appointed Robert P. Schultze as president and chief
executive officer. Effective February 17, 2015, Schultze will take over the
leadership position currently held by Joan McCallen, who will retire after 18
years of service. Schultze will lead the organization comprised of over 750
associates managing and administering more than $57 billion in assets. ICMA-RC provides
retirement plan services for nearly 1.2 million public sector participant
accounts and over 9,000 retirement plans.Read more > |
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Market Mirror |
Positive
sentiment from the Federal Reserve ended the losing streak of major U.S. stock
indices Wednesday. The Dow gained 212.88 points (1.23%) to finish at 17,584.52,
the NASDAQ climbed 57.73 points (1.26%) to 4,650.47, and the S&P 500 closed
23.29 points (1.16%) higher at 2,025.90. The Russell 2000 increased 14.66
points (1.26%) to 1,175.97, and the Wilshire 5000 was up 241.42 points (1.15%)
at 21,301.67.
On the NYSE,
3.2 billion shares traded, with a near 3 to 1 lead for advancers. On the
NASDAQ, 2.7 billion shares changed hands, with 1.7 advancing issues for every
declining issue.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note was down 5/32,
increasing its yield to 1.961%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond fell
14/32, bringing its yield up to 2.524%.
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Compliance |
ERISA Lawsuit Filed Against Avon Products |
Avon Products is facing an Employee Retirement
Income Security Act (ERISA) lawsuit over its handling of the company stock fund
investment option in its retirement plan for employees. The lawsuit filed in
the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York claims that when
Avon became aware that its foreign subsidiaries had engaged in violations of
the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), it engaged in a cover up rather than
make the investing public and participants in its retirement plan aware of the
misconduct. The suit says the misinformation kept Avon’s stock trading at artificially
high prices for years.Read more > |
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From the Magazine |
Case Sensitive: Procedural Prudence |
Does an employer breach its fiduciary duty to
retirement plan participants under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act
(ERISA) by dropping an investment from a plan without thoroughly investigating
the prudence of doing so? If yes, by what legal standard should the committee
be judged for causing a loss to participant accounts?Read more > |
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Investing |
Retirement investors and pension funds have not
had to wait very long to test their 2015 portfolio strategies against increased
volatility and fluctuating asset prices. There is a confluence of factors
causing the current bout of market volatility, Prudential Financial experts
noted at the firm’s 7th Annual Global Economic and Retirement Outlook event in
New York. Besides prolonged geopolitical instability and uncertainty about
interest rates both in the U.S. and abroad, markets have yet to adjust to what
appears to be a prolonged plunge in oil prices. There is even emerging concern
that deflation in the Euro and other currencies could dampen growth in key
economies, said panelist John Praveen, managing director and chief investment
strategist for Prudential International Investments Advisers.Read more > |
Considerations for DB Investing in 2015 |
This year, the question for defined benefit (DB)
plan sponsors will not just be, “What will interest rates do?” Looking at their
DB plan as part of the overall corporate strategy will help plan sponsors
determine how to manage assets, says John McCareins, practice lead for DB
pension strategy at Northern Trust in Chicago. Northern Trust continues to
encourage plan sponsors to develop an outcome orientation strategy—to see the defined
benefit plan as an asset of the company and manage enterprise risk instead of
just relying on interest rates to improve funded status, McCareins says. “Our
view is, if they focus on their organizational-specific situation instead of
trying to guess on equity or interest rates, they will look at how each of
three investment ‘buckets’ will work toward the corporate goals and make the
portfolio as all-weather as possible.”Read more > |
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Small Talk |
ON THIS DATE: In
1790, President George Washington
delivered the first State of the Union address to the assembled Congress in New
York City. In 1815, the Battle of
New Orleans began. The War of 1812 had officially ended on December 24, 1814,
with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. The news of the signing had not
reached British troops in time to prevent their attack on New Orleans. In 1918, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson
announced his Fourteen Points as the basis for peace upon the end of World War
I. In 1958, Bobby Fisher, at the age
of 14, won the United States Chess Championship for the first time. In 1997, Mister Rogers received a star on
the Hollywood Walk of Fame. |
SURVEY SAYS: This
week, I’d like to know, what is the best holiday gift you received in 2014? What
is the worst? You may respond to this week’s survey by 6 p.m. Pacific time
today.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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