Trying to find out whether increasingly popular target-date funds work as intended, the chair of the Senate’s Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee, and her House counterpart have asked the Government Accountability Office to conduct a review.
In their letter to the GAO, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wa., and Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, noted that more than $1.5 trillion are invested in target-date funds, often as the default investment option for employer-based retirement plans.
“The employer-provided retirement system must effectively serve its participants and retirees, and we are concerned certain aspects of TDFs may be placing them at risk,” the letter said. “TDFs are often billed as ‘set it and forget it’ investments, yet expenses and risk allocations vary considerably among funds. The millions of families who trust their financial futures to target-date funds, need to know these programs are working as advertised and providing the retirement security promised.”
Among the specific questions Murray and Scott asked the GAO to address were those involving the percentage of total defined-contribution plan assets invested in TDFs, the percentage of plan participants who default into TDFs, the degree of performance variation in same-date TDFs, the differences in glide paths, awareness of cost and the extent to which TDFs include alternative assets, such as hedge funds or private equity.
A private partnership, Edward Jones is a giant in the retail brokerage industry with more than 20,000 financial advisors.
Meanwhile, Raymond James and Tritonpoint Partners separately welcomed father-son teams, including a breakaway from UBS in Missouri.
Paul Atkins has asked staff to solicit public comment on novel ETFs, pausing the clock on as many as 24 filings linked to the booming event contracts market.
From 401(k)s to retail funds, Deloitte sees private equity and credit crossing into mainstream investing on two fronts at once.
Big-name defections from Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Merrill Lynch headline a busy two weeks of recruiting for the wirehouse.
Wellington explores how multi strategy hedge funds may enhance diversification
As technical expertise becomes increasingly commoditized, advisors who can integrate strategy, relationships, and specialized expertise into a cohesive client experience will define the next era of wealth management
