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
Vanguard announced expense ratio reductions to 168 mutual fund and exchange-traded share classes across 87 funds. The reductions will save investors more than $350 million in 2025 alone, the largest annual expense ratio...more
The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (“CIRO”) recently published for comment proposals relating to Phase 3 of its rule consolidation project (the “Rule Consolidation Project”) as well as a new integrated fee model...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
On October 16, 2023, the Division of Examinations (the "Division") of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") released its 2024 Examination Priorities ("Annual Priorities").[1] Unlike in previous years when the...more
In a case of first impression in the Tenth Circuit, the Court recently joined the chorus of circuit courts in holding that a 401(k) plan participant alleging excessive investment management or recordkeeping fees must assert a...more
The Nutter Securities Enforcement Update is a periodic summary of noteworthy recent securities enforcement activity, settlements, decisions, and charges. ...more
On Friday, the Ninth Circuit became the first circuit court to rule in a 401(k) plan fee and investment litigation following the Supreme Court’s January 2022 decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University, 142 S. Ct. 737...more
In the News. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed modifying the disclosure framework for mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (funds), which would create a new layered disclosure regime that attempts to...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
Shelf space payments where mutual funds pay a platform a fee for space on their 401(k) shelf of investments is the newest thing, especially as a way to replace the loss of revenue sharing. One provider, in particular, is...more
With Fidelity being under fire for “shelf space payments” from mutual fund companies to appear on their platform, it’s not surprising that ERISA litigators smell blood in the water like the sharks people think they are....more
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharm is prepping for a possible bankruptcy filing “as it seeks to contain liability from hundreds of lawsuits alleging it fueled the nation’s opioid epidemic.” Officially, the company went on the...more
The DC Circuit Court of Appeals dealt the DOJ a blow yesterday with a ruling that “rejected the government’s claim that a lower court had applied antitrust laws incorrectly in allowing the merger” between AT&T and Time Warner...more
New York’s Attorney General issued a report on its recent investigation of fees charged by actively managed equity mutual funds and a metric known as "Active Share." Denoted as a "percentage" from 0 to 100 percent, Active...more
A recent ruling by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) indicates approval for mutual funds to be sold without servicing costs already built into the cost of the fund. In other words, the SEC ruling states that...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission Adopts Amendments to Form ADV and Investment Adviser Act Rules - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to Form ADV and Investment Advisers Act of 1940...more
I always say that I come up with many ideas, but most of them are bad. Seriously, there are so many bad ideas out there in the 401(k) space and one of the really bad ideas out there are bundled plan providers using their own,...more
Non-Enforcement - Remember to Update Your Risk Disclosure on an Ongoing Basis - The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued guidance reminding mutual funds, exchange traded funds, and other...more
In denying class certification in an action against Transamerica Life Insurance Company (TLIC), the Central District of California noted that the “sheer number of participants and plans” potentially involved in this...more
According to the SEC’s most recent financial report, as of August 2014, SEC-registered investment advisers managed $62.3 trillion in assets. Not surprisingly, investment advisers attract a great deal of attention from the...more
In Jones v. Harris Associates L.P., the Supreme Court adopted the Gartenberg standard for cases brought under Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940: “[T]o face liability... an investment adviser must charge a...more
The staff of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management (the “Staff”) granted no-action relief with respect to the rebate of advisory fees by Amerivest Investment Management, LLC (the “Adviser”) to eligible clients for which...more
The staff of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management (the “Staff”) granted no-action relief for the implementation of an adjustment in the fee paid by a mutual fund’s adviser to the fund’s subadviser, without shareholder...more
On remand from the Seventh Circuit, a federal district court in Illinois granted class certification in a case where participants in a Boeing 401(k) plan alleged that Boeing breached its fiduciary duties under ERISA by: (i)...more