Dimensional Fund Advisors LP ("Dimensional"), a quantitative investment firm, recently filed an application for exemptive relief ("Application") with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), seeking permission to offer...more
John Galloway, the global head of investment stewardship at Vanguard, Inc.--one of the preeminent index fund managers in the United States--recently announced a set of expected climate-focused disclosures that Vanguard...more
BlackRock Doubles Down on Sustainability - • BlackRock signals substantially more assertive posture on climate-related issues • New approach to shareholder proposals saw BlackRock support 54% of environmental and social...more
In a much-anticipated [well, for some of us central bank nerds, at least] to the Economic Club of NY, Fed Chair Powell on Wednesday acknowledged that pent-up consumer demand unlocked by a big government stimulus package could...more
The CARES act allowed 401(k) participants easier access to their account balances,m during the coronavirus pandemic....more
EU and British authorities unveiled new proposals this week to “crimp the power of ‘gatekeeper’ platforms like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft, which policymakers argue deserve more oversight given their outsize...more
Friday’s jobs report was not only 200,000 jobs below projections for November, but it marked the fifth straight month of a diminished pace of hiring in the United States and brought urgency to facing the reality that there...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
Amazon is a mover and shaker in e-commerce and they have a pretty large 401(k) plan now. As of the end of 2018, their 401(k) plan has almost $6 billion in assets....more
The push for increased diversity on corporate boards ramped up recently when Vanguard, a leader in mutual funds and asset management, released its 2019 Investment Stewardship Annual Report. The report, released on August 30,...more
Private equity sponsors have typically exited their investments through a sale or public offering. While sales to a strategic or another private equity sponsor predominate, public offerings still represent an attractive...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
As I’ve been saying for a while, advisors need to offer health savings accounts (HSAs) to the plan sponsors clients they have. They can make money on increased assets and their clients get to offer a tremendous employee...more
On September 4, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the partial denial of a motion to dismiss a putative class action against investment services provider Vanguard Group (the “Company”). ...more
A Call For A New Standard For Financial Advisors. A higher standrad for today. Over the last 10 years, there has certainly been a revolution among 401(k) financial advisors about the need and concern of good fiduciary...more
Starting this year, Fidelity will charge all new 401(k) clients a 5 basis point (0.05%) fee on participant assets invested with Vanguard index funds. The fee won’t apply to existing Fidelity clients and will be billed to the...more
Top mutual fund firm The Vanguard Group, Inc. unveiled a plan last week to incorporate blockchain smart contract technology into some of its indexing operations beginning early next year. Vanguard’s initiative will be carried...more
Vanguard’s not well known for making waves, but the $4.5 trillion mutual-fund manager has quietly increased its corporate engagement activity over the past year—discussing governance, pay, and other issues with nearly a...more
As previously reported on this blog, Vanguard received a shareholder proposal requesting additional disclosure on its climate change voting record, and the proposal was scheduled to appear on the agenda for Vanguard’s 2017...more
Companies who engage with their large institutional shareholders on environmental and social issues during the 2018 proxy season should keep in mind that these investors are facing pressure from other investors on their...more
On May 26, 2017, Judge Cynthia Rufe of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled that the plaintiffs’ state law claims against Vanguard Group, Inc. (“Vanguard”) were not preempted by the...more
There is a proliferation of litigation against plan sponsors and against bundled 401(k) plan providers for offering their own proprietary funds in 401(k) plans for their employees as well as the 401(k) plans they administer...more
Editor's Overview - This month we take a look at the plaintiffs' past successes in fee litigations, and the influx of such lawsuits seeking to impose heightened fiduciary standards for 401(k) plans. Regardless of the...more
Citing the importance of publicly owned companies to the U.S. economy, a group of thirteen leading executives issued a set of principles, on July 21, 2016, outlining their vision for the critical elements of good corporate...more