| Benefits & Administration | Research Supports Use of Auto Investing Solutions | Research from the Columbia Business School
concludes that retirement plan investors may do better to check their
portfolios less often and leave investment decisions to others. The research model
predicts that given the choice, most people prefer to stay inattentive to their
portfolios, and this makes them more willing to choose an investment solution
that automatically diversifies and rebalances their portfolios or to pay for a
professional portfolio manager.Read more > | Actuaries Grade Retirement Systems, Reform Proposals | The American Academy of Actuaries has released
grades for major retirement systems and public policy proposals. The group
evaluated how well public and private retirement systems—and proposals to reform them—meet the needs of participants, sponsors and other
stakeholders. Of the five systems and proposals that were graded, the academy
bestowed its highest marks on retirement legislation proposed last year by former
U.S. Senator Tom Harkin and a Canadian government pension system.Read more > | | Products, Deals & People | New hire R. Evan Inglis is tasked with providing
deep technical expertise for Nuveen Asset Management to further develop the
firm’s proprietary pension analytics and risk models.Read more > | In an effort to step up its support of
retirement plans sold to government entities, MassMutual’s retirement services
has added three managing directors: Kelly Bush, Pete Ganey, and Richard Snyder.
The three will support sales of defined contribution (DC) retirement plans in
states, countries and municipalities.Read more > | | Economic Events | In the week ending January 3, the
advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment
insurance was 294,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week’s unrevised
level of 298,000, the Labor Department reported. The four-week moving average
was 290,500, a decrease of 250 from the previous week’s unrevised average of
290,750.
The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate
mortgage is 3.73%, down from 3.87% one week ago, according to Freddie Mac. The
average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is 3.05%, down from
3.15%.
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