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As the mutual fund industry struggles to differentiate itself either through performance, products, strategies or fees, the U.S. Department of Labor has handed the industry a great opportunity to innovate through regulation. That’s a difficult concept for the financial services industry to accept, but regulation has its benefits. The Robber Barons recognized that at the…
“The U.S. job market is showing signs of a sustained recovery. But the country’s prolonged struggle with unemployment will leave scars that are likely to remain for years, if not generations.” –Ben Casselman, The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 9, 2012 While the prevailing mantra for the upcoming election is “job creation,” the better long-term goal…
“Verizon Wireless bowed to a torrent of criticism on Friday and reversed a day-old plan to impose a $2 bill-paying fee that would have applied to only some customers.” —New York Times, Dec. 30, 2011 If a $2 per month fee can reverse the decision of the nation’s largest cell phone company, what will happen…
On July 28, 2008, then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson held a curious meeting in New York with about a dozen hedge fund managers. At the time of the meeting, Bear Stearns had already been forced into a fire sale to JP Morgan Chase for $4 a share four months earlier, and the hybrid mortgage housing agencies,…
Millions of American investors lost billions of dollars or more in the 2008 mass housing and financial frauds. But very few people have taken the time to investigate why they lost money and what the U.S. financial services industry did to help create the crisis or prevent it from happening. Author Bruce Gauthier is an…
Note: This article was originally published in July 2010. Investors are still waiting for a decision. After decades of wrangling, false starts, and back room intrigues, it looks like the SEC is finally addressing the long-over due, critical issue of mutual fund fees. Today, these fees charged to fund shareholders amount to $12 billion, according…
While the 401(k) movement has been going strong for the past 30-plus years, it now looks like the investment managers who were administering the funds and providing the advice have been engaged in a conflict of interest with their company plan counterparts. At least that is what the U.S. Department of Labor’s Government Accountability Office…