Financial Crisis News Center

SEC and DOL Hold Hearing on Target Date Funds

This story appeared in SEC Today.

The SEC and the Department of Labor held a joint hearing on target date funds that included representatives of plan participants and beneficiaries, plan sponsors, investor organizations, academia and the financial services industry. SEC Chair Mary Schapiro said the varying results of these funds, which are intended to automatically shift to more conservative investments as a target date approaches, raised questions about the need for reforms or revisions. In 2008, the returns for 31 funds with a 2010 target date varied from minus 3.6% to minus 46%.

Of all of the issues that the SEC is examining in the aftermath of the economic crisis, Schapiro said the review of target date funds may be the one that most directly affects everyday Americans.

Retirement Plan Policy Adviser Aims to Bolster Savings

By Gregg D. Killoren, J.D., CCH State Banking Law Reporter, Bank Digestand Individual Retirement Plans Guide, May 14, 2009.

In a signal that retirement issues have become a higher priority at the Treasury Department, J. Mark Iwry was named on April 27, 2009, to the newly created position of senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and deputy assistant secretary for retirement and health-care policy. Iwry was a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution before taking on his new role at the Treasury. He also worked for the Treasury during the Clinton administration as benefits tax counsel.