I’ve always been a big fan of index funds, probably more so when exchange-traded funds became a thing. From experience, most funds fail to meet the benchmarks. Yet, I grew up in the retirement plan business when it was...more
Welcome to the Corporate Briefing, where we review the latest developments in UK corporate law that you need to know about. In this month’s issue, we discuss...more
Today, Mayer Brown’s Larry Cunningham provided testimony to the House Financial Services Committee on shareholder proposals and related issues. Read an excerpt below...more
A U.S. District Court judge threw out a case against Microsoft which claimed that the BlackRock LifePath Index Funds suite of target-date funds was an imprudent investment choice for their plan participants....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
Complex financial products continue to present difficult issues for the Commission. In many instances the products involved are so complex that is may be questionable if any amount of policies, procedures and...more
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of participants in the Northwestern University retirement plans, breathing life again to their breach of fiduciary duty claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). ...more
The global stock index provider Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), one of the largest stock index providers in the world, announced recently that it opened a consultancy process with regard to Israel’s possible...more
When you’re a financial services company that offers proprietary mutual funds within your 401(k) plan, expect to get sued....more
Market equity prices and indices continued to decrease for many energy companies during 2020. For instance, between January 13, 2020, and December 31, 2020, the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration and Production Select Industry...more
On January 6, 2021, the Division of Examinations (“Division”) issued a Risk Alert to notify investment advisers, broker-dealers, and other market participants of a recent action relating to investments in securities...more
In January, the U.S. Supreme Court denied review of a case in which Putnam Investments is alleged by plan participants to have breached its fiduciary duty under ERISA by automatically including higher-cost, actively managed...more
The U.S. and China have tentatively [maybe?] agreed that a first phase of a trade agreement “would roll back a portion of the tariffs placed on each other’s products, a significant step toward defusing tensions between the...more
In August 2019, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) will conduct a benchmark survey of foreign residents’ holdings of U.S. issuers’ securities. The information will...more
As set forth in the Incoming Letter, during the past year certain constituents of large-capitalization U.S. equity growth broad-based indices (namely, certain technology-related companies) had grown to represent more than 5%...more
Research by Lucian A. Bebchuk, Harvard Law School, and Scott Hirst, Boston University School of Law, indicates three key index fund advisors could cast 34% of votes in the next decade at S&P 500 companies, and about 41% of...more
In 2018, robust U.S. and global M&A activity substantially mitigated the downside risk for activist investors. With political uncertainty ahead of the 2020 presidential election, unsettled questions on trade and tariffs, and...more
In January, FINRA issued an interpretative letter allowing member firms to use pre-inception index performance (PIP) data in communications concerning open-end investment companies that are distributed solely to institutional...more
With a high-level White House meeting on Friday, the US and China have extended trade talks, even as a “final deal remains elusive” (aka, nothing at all is in writing yet). It also appears that the purported progress is...more
The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (FHLB of San Francisco) recently announced that it will discontinue publishing certain cost of funds indices, including the 11th District Weighted Average Cost of Funds Index...more
The Wilshire Liquid Alternative Index, which provides a baseline for the performance of the broad liquid alternative investment category, returned 0.71% in July....more
Following an initial “soft” consultation with industry participants and relevant stakeholders, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) launched a three-month consultation on proposed amendments to the Code on Unit Trusts...more
New Rules, Proposed Rules, Guidance and Alerts – SEC STAFF GUIDANCE AND ALERTS - SEC Staff Issues Guidance on Cryptocurrency-related Holdings - On January 18, 2018, the staff of the SEC’s Division of Investment...more
During the recent PLI Seminar on Securities Regulation that took place in New York City on November 8-10, 2017, panelists briefly discussed the recent decisions by major index providers to change their index eligibility rules...more
In July 2017, global index providers S&P Dow Jones (S&P DJI) and FTSE Russell (FTSE) announced changes to their index eligibility rules, with S&P DJI excluding from certain of its indices companies with multi-class capital...more