As you may or may not know, fi360 is headquartered just outside of Pittsburgh, which this week is hosting the G-20 Summit. The G-20 is "the informal forums of 20 leading industrialized and emerging economies to discuss key issues in the global economy." It's primary function is creating dialogue and understanding among those countries that make up 85 percent of the world's gross national product. One representative result of the last G-20 Summit in April of this year in London that would be of interest to our audience is the working group on enhancing sound regulation and strengthening transparency. Their report identified weaknesses brought to light by the world economic crisis and made recommendations for a system-wide approach to financial regulation, greater transparency in financial markets, promotion of capital and liquidity buffers, and more. And, much as we've been focused on regulatory reform, financial regulatory reform is also apparently at the top of the agenda for this week's meetings.
We are proud of our city and like to think that Pittsburgh's role as host has symbolic value as how to prosper after economic collapse. Still known more for our steel industry past, Pittsburgh is no longer a smoky industrial city, but one that is economically diversified with large manufacturing, health care, high tech, higher education, and banking industries that has been relatively unschathed during the current crisis.
Now on to the links:
In the news/commentary:
- A look at the passive vs. active management debate says that the three most important factors in choosing an active manager are the culture and structure of the firm and the quality of the decision-makers.
- A look at a court ruling that a retirement plan's investing in company stock did not constitute a fiduciary breach, along with a recommendation that due diligence and documentation on this type of investment is kept current and for the retaining of an independent fiduciary.
- Evaluating target date funds
- States are looking to take on more of the burden of regulating advisors
- First, the last-minute regulation from the Bush administration allowing conflicted advice was killed, then Congress confirmed advice will be addressed legislatively.
- How different groups are defining "fiduciary"
From the organizations/associations/government/academia:
- CFOs of DC plans say they intend to limit risk, increase auto-enrollment and contribution escalation, among other changes.
- Until it changes, selling insurance does not constitute fiduciary responsibility.
From the blogs:
- Michael Zhuang argues that diversification is still the most prudent course.
- For fiduciaries, prudence supercedes sales skills
- Judge Rakoff's decision re: Bank of America may be seminal moment in regulatory reform.
- How can trust be turned on and off?
- Blaine's recent appearance as guest webinar speaker is now available in archive
For more of the best links during the week, make sure you follow us on Twitter.
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