401(k) Fridays Podcast

It seems like the major themes that are dominating the investment markets are also of great interest to individuals trying to make decisions personally or in their businesses. That isn’t always the case. I couldn’t think of a better person to wade through this with me than a perennial podcast favorite Rob Arnott, Founder and Chairman of Research Affiliates. As usual, Rob packages his enthusiasm, excellent communicatio...

Bonds, or fixed income investments did not have a great year in 2022 to say the least. The big question is now what? To delve into that, I am excited to have Michael J. Collins, CFA, and Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager for Core, Core Plus, Absolute Return, and other Multi-Sector Fixed Income strategies at PGIM. We start with commentaries on performance, then move to interest rates, different areas of th...

If you are at all involved with workplace retirement plans, you would have to have been living under a rock to have not heard about SECURE 2.0. It is a hot topic, while also ambitious and even confusing. With all those factors, I couldn’t think of a better person to join me to wade through all this than Alison Cohen, Partner at the Ferenczy Benefits Law Center. We do cover a lot ground today so get ready. Also, while ...

Here we go with a 401(k) Friday’s Podcast first, three guests and a great topic. Today we dive into the recent announcement that three major recordkeepers are launching the Portability Services Network. Joining me to discuss what this means is Dave Gray from Fidelity, Greg Long from Alight and Steve Holman from Vanguard. We tackle what is an automatic rollover, the problems it solves for employees and employers, how i...

It’s been a little while since we tackled financial wellness, there has been a lot going on in that area so I was glad to be able to connect with Brent Hines, the co-founder and Chief Development Officer of the educational non-profit, Foundation for Financial Wellness. The Foundation’s mission is to improve people’s lives by empowering them with the knowledge and the motivation to take control of their financial lives...

Every now and then you have a guest that like Prince, or Cher, that simply needs one name to know who they are. Today, I am happy to welcome Shlomo, more formally known as Dr. Shlomo Benartzi, Professor Emeritus, UCLA Anderson, Founder and CEO, PensionPlus. We dive into the compelling and complex topic of the good, the bad and the ugly of auto everything in retirement plans. As implied, auto features are powerful, but...

I am happy to welcome back another guest who seemingly had predictive powers in prior episodes to briefly reflect on that prediction and give his crystal ball another look. Joining me is Jason Roberts, CEO of Pension Resource Institute and Retirement Law Group and managing partner at Group Plan Systems. Jason also shares input on evaluating some services plan sponsors use that are tougher to compare than say a large c...

If you hadn’t noticed, 2022 hasn’t produced the best results in the financial markets. The questions on everyone’s mind are how did we get here and what’s next? To delve into those and many other questions I am happy to welcome back Rich Weiss, Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer overseeing the Multi-Asset Strategies Division at American Century Investments. Personally, I’m glad we were able to pry him ...

Today, I am excited to launch the fall series of episodes and we start with stable value investments. My guest is Steve Horner, CFA and Portfolio Manager in the Corporate and Tax-Exempt Credit group within Fixed Income at Putnam Investments. With the historic interest rate hikes, surging bond yields and talk of recession Steve shares what all this means for stable value funds. We also hit on some of the basics around ...

This week, we tackle M&A Mania in the retirement space. My guest is Dick Darian, Founding Partner of the Wise Rhino Group, a firm dedicated to working with both buyers and sellers in the retirement market. We hit on what he sees coming in the M&A market after a torrid pace for the last several years. We also cover the what Dick sees as the driving forces behind the M&A activity that are of interest for both employers ...

This week, we tackle a timely topic straight out of the headlines, Bitcoin or Digital assets and 401(k) plans. Joining me is Dave Gray, the Head of Workplace Retirement Platforms & Workplace Investing for Fidelity. We cover all the topics you would expect like why Bitcoin, why 401(k) plans, how can plan sponsors evaluate the whether Bitcoin makes sense for them and a fairly detailed breakdown of the recent DOL Complia...

This week, we have my promised update from the defense bar perspective on the many happenings in the world of retirement plans. Joining me is repeat guest David Levine, Principal and Co-Chair of the Plan Sponsor Practice at Groom Law group. We start out with some headline grabbing topics like crypto currency in retirement pl...

On this episode we have a little fun and take on some information on 401(k)s that you may or may not have seen on TikTok. You will hear my inspiration for this episode right out of the gate and it is safe to say you can’t always trust what you hear online. Or, at a minimum you need a heavy dose of context. My guest, the multi-tool player David Blanchet, PhD, CFA, CFP is Managing Director and Head of Retirement Research now with PGI...

This week I am excited to welcome back Jerome Clark, portfolio manager of the T. Rowe Price Target Date Strategies. For a curveball, we are not going to talk at all about Target Date Funds, instead Jerome shares his insights on how employers can help improve retirement outcomes in the minority community. As you will hear, this is a topic Jerome and T. Rowe Price are both very knowledgable and passionate about. I felt ...

This week I am excited to welcome back Rob Arnott, Founder & Chairman of Research Affiliates to dive into the trick topic of inflation and its impact on the markets. We also dive into the challenges of rising rates, equity valuations and whether the investment realities of commercial real estate has changed. A quick note, we recorded this episode prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, so there is not much talk of t...

Day by day, year by year, technology plays are bigger and more important role in our lives. When it comes to retirement savings, how could technology impact things? To share some insights, I am happy to welcome Dave Castellani, Operating Principal with the venture capital firm Brew Lane Ventures. Dave has a unique background as a technology guy who has done a few tours in the retirement world. During our conversation ...

Today, I am excited to share the latest installment of what has become almost an annual conversation with Jerry Schlichter, Managing Partner of Schlichter Bogard & Denton. If you are in the world of 401(k) plans, you need no introduction to the plaintiff attorney who has secured over $600 million in settlements, is now 2-0 in the Supreme Court and has changed the workplace retirement landscape. Our conversation this y...