Nevin's Data "Points"

   We’re often told (via surveys) of any number of retirement plan options that plan participants want. Should it matter? Most recently, we’re assured that participants are  clamoring to have access to private market investments . Before that, it was  cryptocurrency  — and for what seems like months now it’s all been about  retirement income . Apparently vast majorities of participants are eager to have access through their 401(k) to an array of complex financial instruments to which they have, thus far, been largely (or totally) barred — or so surveys say. Indeed, I’ve always been amazed that organizations are able to find so many ostensibly knowledgeable participants to weigh in on these complex topics — particularly since there is an abundance of (other) surveys that suggest that when it comes to financial matters, participants are, largely, clueless. Not that that seems to dampen their collective interest in these new options — though when given a chanc...

  Plan fiduciaries might well have gotten a case of severe whiplash last week. I’m referring of course to the dual announcements from the Labor Department (a)  rescinding its previous position on cryptocurrency  in retirement plans and (b) indicating  that it in some fashion plans to  review/change the current so-called ESG rule  through a formal regulatory notice-and-comment period — presumably rather than defend the current version which had been  challenged in court . That, and any day now it’s expected that the Administration will (similarly) soften, if not shift, its  previous take on private equity  investments in defined contribution plans. Doubtless many are cheering these new developments; others, of course, will see this as either a danger, or a diminution of fiduciary responsibility. And some, surely, will like one, but not the other.  Regardless, if you’re a plan fiduciary trying to figure out what is right and prudent to con...

Will your portfolio rise with the Rams – or get pummeled by the Patriots? That’s what adherents of the so-called Super Bowl Theory would likely conclude. The Super Bowl Theory holds that when a team from the old National Football League wins the Super Bowl, the S&P 500 will rise, and when a team from the old American Football League prevails, stock prices will fall. It’s a “theory” that has been found to be correct nearly 80% of the time – for 40 of the 52 Super Bowls, in fact. Not that it hasn’t had its shortcomings. One need look back no further than last year’s win by the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles against the AFC Champion Patriots (who once were the AFL’s Boston Patriots) to find an instance where it turned out to be a loser, market-wise, with the S&P 500 down more than 6% (though for most of the year it was quite a different story). Ditto the year before when the epic comeback by those same AFC Champion Patriots against the NFC champion Atlanta Fa...

By now, you’ve heard — and perhaps dispensed — what appears to be the “common wisdom” about the recent market tumult: “stay the course,” “ride it out,” and my personal favorite, “don’t just do something, stand there.” For all our industry’s long-standing concern about participant inertia, in times like these the inclination to “do nothing” is undoubtedly to the benefit of most participants. That said, one can well imagine that those who are turning to their advisors for help and guidance (wonder what the robo-advisors are saying?) might be a little frustrated with the admonition that the best thing for them to do right now is… nothing. Early indications are that most retirement plan participants will — again — ride this one out (though there are some exceptions . But, hey — while the markets have your attention, here are five things participants can, and should, do: Check your account balance. While a lot of experts will tell you to avoid looking at your account right after a b...

At a recent event, one of the speakers was taking our industry to task for expecting too much from participants. “We don’t expect individuals to diagnose and treat their own illness,” he said, going on to note that with 401(k)s we expect people who don’t have any knowledge or training in investments to decide how to invest those balances. Admittedly, those 401(k) investment decisions can be complicated for some — and, since it (mostly) is their money, after all, most do give individual participants the ability to decide how it will be invested. As nice as it would be if individuals were exposed to the basics of finance — saving, budgeting, investments — sometime in their lives ahead of that workplace plan enrollment meeting, or the pages of that 401(k) enrollment kit, that’s not the current system’s fault. In reality, individuals are routinely asked to make decisions on things in which they have no real knowledge or training. On numerous occasions, I’ve had plumbers and mechanics ...