How Can US DC Plans Deliver a Lifetime Income Solution?
The federal government wants to make it easier for employers to offer lifetime income solutions in retirement plans. My colleague, Mark Fortier, offers an interesting approach to doing so.
read moreCould Asia Come to the Rescue in a Global Double Dip?
Expansionary policy in Asia helped lead the world out of its slump after the 2008 financial crisis. While the region doesn’t have as much room for manoeuvre as it did then, we think it has ample firepower to deploy if the global economy slides into recession again.
read moreEuro-Area Leaders Need to Focus on More Pressing Issues
A surprising amount of common ground was reached at last week’s informal meeting of European Union leaders—but there wasn’t agreement on joint issuance of Eurobonds.
read moreWhat Will Happen if Greece Leaves the Euro Area?
With party leaders failing to set aside their differences, Greece is set to hold another general election on June 17. The outcome is hard to predict, but one thing is clear: a Greek exit from the euro area is now a possibility that investors need to take very seriously.
read moreWhat We’ve Learned from Municipal Distress
Is the municipal bond market on the verge of collapse? You might think so, given the blaring headlines about a few big disasters in the last year. But as my colleague Joe Rosenblum explains below, poor decision making, not systemic issues, has caused the most serious problems.
read moreRules of the Game Have Changed for Euro High-Yield Investors
The European sovereign debt crisis has changed the rules of the game for euro high-yield investors. Fixed-income managers are being challenged to think differently about both the risks and the opportunity set.
read moreDon’t Paint Yourself into a Corner with Overly Defensive Strategies
Popular strategies for hedging against deflation and hyperinflation are likely to be disastrous if the economic outlook grows more benign as we expect.
read moreThe Bigger Picture on US Jobs
Last month, I explained why weak US jobs numbers for March shouldn’t be taken at face value. Since then, we’ve had another month of disappointing employment data—and I have some more evidence to suggest that the underlying trends are better than you might think.
read moreGlobal Bonds: Avoiding Unintended Consequences
More and more, global bonds are being used as core portfolios for investors seeking an anchor to windward for their stock investments. While this is generally a good thing, some investors are discovering that the decision to go global can have unintended consequences: certain global bond portfolios have much higher volatility than is usually associated [...]
read moreFees Matter a Lot, but They’re Not All That Matters
The US Department of Labor’s new fee-disclosure rules for defined contribution (DC) plans will provide participants with much more information on plan and investment-option fees. That’s good. But there’s a real risk that it may unintentionally drive participants toward making poor investment decisions, as my colleagues Mark Fortier and Daniel Notto explain below.
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