In our recent investment commentary, we highlighted research regarding plan design and plan participants. The research clearly highlights the effects that plan design can have on plan participants and retirement outcomes. While the study largely confirms that automatic enrollment has… Read More >
The SECURE Act
The SECURE Act of 2019 (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement) is a wide-ranging act, spanning nearly 40 provisions It is the most comprehensive retirement savings package to become law since the Pension Protection Act of 2006, and seeks… Read More >
Considering Employer Match Suspension
As businesses reopen and employees return to work, employers are wrestling with how to handle cash flow in unprecedented circumstances. If you are considering suspending the employer match in your company’s retirement plan, you are not alone. Can you suspend… Read More >
The Importance of an Investment Policy Statement
I. Overview A written investment policy statement (IPS) provides guidelines and directions for the conscientious fiduciary. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) does not include a specific requirement that plans have a written IPS. The concept of a documented… Read More >
Long Term Portfolio Returns – January 2019 Update
In order to make sound investment decisions today, we are forced to make long term projections of portfolio returns. The methodology, assumptions, and original inputs for our approach to predicting long term portfolio returns are originally documented in our white… Read More >
What It Means To Be A Fiduciary Under ERISA
Overview The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) sets out comprehensive standards of conduct for those who manage an employee benefit plan and its assets. In addition to a specific person being named in the plan document, a… Read More >
Recent Performance of International Stocks
International stocks have significantly under-performed US stocks, recently. Investors with allocations to international stocks have watched them perform so poorly on a relative basis that they might question why they own them in the first place. Since June 2008, US… Read More >
Long Term Portfolio Returns – January 2018 Update
In order to make sound investment decisions today, we are forced on making long term projections of portfolio returns. The methodology, assumptions, and original inputs for our approach to predicting long term portfolio returns are originally documented in our white… Read More >
The Monkey’s Advantage
The Wall Street Journal ran a periodic column a few years ago that compared the performance of some of the best stock pickers to that of monkeys throwing darts at a page of stock listings. After some time, the “monkeys”… Read More >
Effect of Stale Returns on Diversification Strategies
In an effort to manage risk and reduce volatility, investors often seek to diversify the holdings in their portfolio. Diversification is sometimes described as the only “free lunch” when it comes to investing. The idea behind diversification is that an… Read More >
Make Small Cap Stocks Great Again?
The stock markets in the days immediately following the recent US presidential election were surprising to many in a number of ways. US small company stocks experienced higher returns than US large company stocks. This period helps illustrate how different… Read More >
