Stock market volatility and worries that more bad news from the housing sector could threaten the U.S. economy’s prospects for a soft landing are likely to make 2007 “a dynamite year” for money fund inflows, a well-known money fund expert said last week.
IRVINE, Calif. — The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed that firms beef up their disclosure of cash sweep policies. The proposal, part of a little-noticed package of rules floated by the SEC this month, would require broker-dealers to provide a quarterly notice to customers telling them that they can opt out of a default sweep option and choose another vehicle for their cash.
One of the most pressing issues in the investment industry today is retirement plan fees and expenses. A lot of questions have been raised about them recently, all of which can be answered simply à la college basketball commentator Dick Vitale: “It’s about fiduciary responsibility, baby!”
This is the time of the year that most individual retirement account contributions are being made, but they may or may not be deductible. If you are active in a company plan, and your income exceeds certain amounts, then you cannot deduct your IRA contribution. If you are not an active participant, then you can deduct your IRA contribution regardless of your income.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is getting close to bringing a first-of-its-kind privacy case against a broker-dealer for using client data in the account transfer process, and industry attorneys said that the SEC is investigating similar cases against as many as a dozen other firms.
WASHINGTON — The Department of Labor has put the issue of enhanced 401(k) fee disclosure on its agenda, a move that could take some of the wind out of the sails of a legislative threat.
NEW YORK — IBM Corp.’s announcement that it will offer financial planning services to all 127,000 of its U.S. employees is the biggest sign yet that companies are increasingly interested in providing workers with more individual — and effective — counseling on financial topics.
By OTTAWA — The minority Conservative government’s budget, released last Monday, drew immediate fire from two Canadian opposition parties, the Liberals and New Democrats.
BOSTON — Institutional investors that shun potential money manager candidates because of below-median returns could be lowering their odds of picking a long-term winner, research from investment consultant DiMeo Schneider & Associates LLC shows.
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — For fixed-income investors, few words cause more fear in the over-the-counter-credit-derivatives market and its whopping $26 trillion notional value than “default” and “bankruptcy.”
