Understanding the Insurance Side of Stable Value
By Randy Myers Insurance companies may have years of experience with stable value, but an ever-changing regulatory environment means the business itself has never become routine. Unlike many other industries subject to government oversight, the insurance industry is regulated primarily at the state level rather than the federal level. Each state insurance department brings […]
The Evolving Definition of Competing Funds
By Randy Myers There was a time in the stable value industry when the term “competing fund” almost always referred to one thing: a money market fund. No longer. Over the past decade or so, the financial services industry has rolled out a slew of new investment products for defined contribution plans, from inflation-protected […]
SVIA Finishes Annual Survey Covering 2012
By Gina Mitchell SVIA’s Annual Stable Value Investment and Policy Survey, its most comprehensive survey, confirmed the positive trends found in most defined contribution plan asset allocation and stable value investments surveys. The annual survey, which covers 38 stable value managers, reported that assets under management in 2012 had risen to $701 billion, which […]
Stable Value Assets Continue to Grow in 2012
By Randy Myers The stable value market continued to grow again last year as retirement plan participants continued to show enthusiasm for the steady returns and principal guarantees offered by the asset class. Assets in stable value funds grew 8.5 percent to $701 billion in 2012 , giving stable value about a 14 percent […]
Regulators Continue to Study Dodd-Frank
By Randy Myers When Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, it tasked the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) with conducting a study of stable value contracts. The goal was to determine whether stable value contracts should be treated as over-the-counter […]
NAIC Separate Account Risk Working Group Listens to Commenters
By Helen Napoli On June 5th, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Separate Account Risk (E) Working Group heard from four out of the nine commenters who submitted written comments on the NAIC’s evaluation criteria, assessments and proposed recommendations regarding the insulation of separate accounts. The NAIC asked interested parties to comment on […]
Fiscal Concerns: Goldman Sachs Asset Management Offers an Update
By Randy Myers Continued modest economic growth, low interest rates and benign inflation should provide a fertile backdrop for the U.S. equity market in the year ahead, says Samantha Davidson, managing director with the Global Portfolio Solutions Investment Team at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Speaking at the 2013 SVIA Spring Seminar in April, Davidson […]
First Quarter 2013 Data Shows Stable Value’s Consistency and Strength
By Gina Mitchell First quarter 2013 data from SVIA’s Quarterly Characteristics Survey continues to demonstrate why plan participants are relying upon stable value. The quarterly survey, which covers 23 stable value managers, found assets under management of $452 billion, which was $5 billion more than the previous quarter. Crediting rates continued to reflect the […]
Fee Disclosure Remains a Work in Progress
By Randy Myers In the year since federally mandated fee disclosure rules went into effect for defined contribution plans, this much has been discerned: plan sponsors think the new disclosures are helping them meet their fiduciary responsibilities. Also, some plan participants now know more about what their retirement investments are costing them. Last summer, […]
