Cornerstone Research Experts in Focus: Jules van Binsbergen
NOWOTNY KNOWS SQUAT! Helping Financial Advisors Build a Clientele and Assets Under Management (AUM)!
NOWOTNY KNOWS SQUAT! Helping Financial Advisors Build a Clientele and Asset Under Management (AUM)!
Podcast: Federal Court Rejects Mutual Fund Fee Claims and Recognizes Market Realities
Thomson Reuters Session 2: Investment Management, Hedge Funds and Registered Mutual Funds: What's Happening Now?
Cole-Frieman & Mallon partner/co-founder Bart Mallon Discusses CFTC Regulation 4.5, the Volcker Rule & Other Compliance Issues
Here’s that in Ary Rosenbaum’s voice — clear, direct, with a personal anecdote to drive the point home: I’ve talked a lot about institutional share classes, revenue sharing, and the alphabet soup of fund share classes....more
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have gained an increasing foothold in the wealth-management investment universe, with ETF assets under management currently about half the assets under management of mutual funds. As the ETF...more
A California district court recently denied a motion to dismiss claims that the fiduciaries of a 401(k) plan breached their ERISA fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty by selecting underperforming, high-cost investments...more
The Second Circuit recently held that in order to state a claim for a prohibited transaction pursuant to ERISA section 406(a)(1)(C), it is not enough to allege that a fiduciary caused the plan to compensate a service provider...more
Since late July, at least 10 lawsuits have been filed against large 401(k) plan sponsors that offer certain BlackRock Inc. target-date funds (TDF) among their investment options. In an unexpected pivot away from the 401(k)...more
In the first decision since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Hughes v. Northwestern Univ., No. 19-1401, 595 U.S. ___ (U.S. Jan. 24, 2022), a Georgia federal district court held in favor of plaintiffs and declined to dismiss...more
I’m still amazed when I find participant-directed 401(k) plans without a financial advisor. While I understand how solo 401(k) plans don’t have an advisor because individuals think they can do it on their own, it makes no...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) released some new guidance that might facilitate the inclusion of private equity (PE) exposure in participant-directed defined contribution (DC) plans ERISA. The guidance contemplates the...more
I am still how often I find participant-directed 401(k) plans without a financial advisor. While I understand how solo 401(k) plans don’t have an advisor because individuals think they can do it on their own. I have a solo...more
Several highly publicized lawsuits were brought against the Fidelity organization in 2019 in connection with Fidelity’s receipt of “infrastructure fees” from mutual fund families and other investment providers made available...more
One of my favorite sayings is that you should never make yourself a target, but when you are a mutual fund company and you use your own proprietary funds as an investment option in your 401(k) plan, you are certainly a target...more
The 9th Circuit upheld the dismissal of a complaint by participants in the Walt Disney Co. 401(k) plan that Disney violated their fiduciary duty by offering the Sequoia Fund, a mutual fund that had plummeted in value....more
On February 21, 2019 attorneys for Andrew Wong, a participant in the T-Mobile USA Inc. 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan & Trust, filed a class action complaint in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts against FMR LLC,...more
American Century Investments recently won a class-action lawsuit alleging that they profited from their company 401(k) plan at the expense of employees by loading the retirement plan with in-house mutual funds....more
In the wake of mass shootings, environmental disasters, industrial accidents, drug and tobacco use pandemics, and other tragedies, retirement plan investors are paying more attention to selecting or rejecting investments...more
Despite the change in seasons, there appears to be no change in the pace of complex and class action ERISA litigation. Investments in defined contribution plans—both 401(k) and 403(b) plans—continue to be the leading target...more
A plaintiffs' class action law firm in St. Louis made national headlines last August when it filed a series of breach of fiduciary duty lawsuits under ERISA, the federal employee benefits law, against the fiduciaries of...more
The SEC’s Division of Investment Management released a Guidance Update on December 19, 2016, addressing certain procedural issues that have arisen in connection with the so-called “Fiduciary Rules” adopted by the U.S....more
- AXA Prevails at First Post-Jones v. Harris Excessive Fee Trial - Potential Secondary Effects of Regulatory Examinations: Evidentiary Issues and Preclusion in Parallel Litigation - On The Horizon: Global...more
Investment Adviser AXA Wins Excessive Fee Trial - A federal judge in New Jersey has ruled in favor of AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company (AXA Equitable) and its wholly owned subsidiary, AXA Equitable Funds Management...more
In conjunction with its issuance in April 2016 of a new regulation redefining the concept of “investment advice” for purposes of fiduciary status under ERISA and Section 4975 of the Code, the Department of Labor amended a...more
The First Circuit joined the Eighth Circuit in finding that Fidelity’s practice of earning overnight “float” interest on the cash paid out to 401(k) participants redeeming shares in mutual funds did not violate ERISA’s duty...more
Below is a summary of recent investment management developments that affect registered investment companies, private equity funds, hedge funds, investment advisers, and others in the investment management industry. ...more
Add Great West under their Empower Retirement brand name as the latest bundled provider being sued. Great West is being sued for revenue sharing fees from mutual funds as part of their program....more
Below is a summary of recent investment management developments that affect registered investment companies, private equity funds, hedge funds, investment advisers, and others in the investment management industry. Schwab...more