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GMM Panelists Discuss Retirement Savings and Financial Education
By Miriam Bridges
May 17, 2013
Americans need greater access to savings vehicles and better financial education to help ensure that they use them effectively, fund industry experts told attendees at the 53rd Annual General Membership Meeting.
In a presentation that examined savings patterns around the world, Princeton University’s Sheldon Garon described the savings culture, institutions, and policies in the United States, which he compares to those of other nations in his book Beyond Our Means: Why America Spends While the World Saves. Garon said the United States could increase savings rates by improving access to banking by lower-income households, promoting youth savings accounts, and focusing on incentives to lower- and middle-income households to save for retirement. Financial inclusion should be promoted as a “national priority and a civil right,” he explained.
In the discussion that followed Garon’s presentation, moderated by Vanguard Principal John Ameriks, panelists agreed that there is a need to increase Americans’ access to savings vehicles. Jim MacDonald, President of Fidelity Investments Workplace Investing, noted that the government could take steps to encourage higher levels of savings and emphasized the “critical need” for coordinated financial education for young people across the United States. “I think we all agree that retirement responsibility has shifted to individuals,” he said.
Michael Falcon, Head of Retirement at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, emphasized that the importance of private-sector defined benefit (DB) pension plans in providing retirement income has often been exaggerated. “It’s not true that everybody had a DB plan,” he explained. “There’s a lot of mythology about what retirement was like. There’s much more money in the self-directed, defined contribution portion of our world than there is in the DB portion. But there are huge portions of our population that don’t have access, and there are things we need to do as an industry and as citizens to try to solve [this problem].”
Recent innovations in 401(k) and other employer-provided defined contribution (DC) plans—including auto enrollment and auto increases—are helping workers. Panelists agreed that these innovations should make up one part of a two-pronged approach, with the second component being financial education that starts early and continues throughout an investor’s life. “We’re missing opportunities when young investors migrate into the workplace,” MacDonald explained. “We also need to educate people who are in their forties today,” added Falcon.
This across-the-board approach to financial education was also discussed by participants in a GMM panel on the fund industry’s “Commitment to Investors in Challenging Times.” John Thiel, Head of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, described his firm’s commitment to client education that is geared toward modern needs and expectations. “Clients aren’t going to read a 30-page white paper,” he explained. “They won’t watch an eight-minute video. But they will watch a two-minute video online.” The firm also holds local education events, he said. Moderator William F. “Bill” Glavin, Chairman, President, and CEO of OppenheimerFunds, agreed. “We’ve coined a term at our firm: ‘snackable content.’ This started with younger generations, but it’s for all generations now. People’s attention spans are about 2.5 minutes.”
Patrick O’Connell, Executive Vice President of Ameriprise Advisor Group, talked about his firm’s adaptation of its investor advice platform, based on these types of generational shifts. In particular, he said, Ameriprise has made educational changes for the Baby Boom Generation, who “are different from other generations. The issues and challenges they are facing are different. We tailor our advice for those clients.” Jim Weddle, Managing Partner of Edward Jones, said that Edward Jones also approaches its education information from a generational perspective. Older investors “don’t want to click and learn,” he said. “They want to be spoken to…and be able to ask questions.”
Find out about the ICI Education Foundation, the educational affiliate of ICI, at its website. Find more meeting highlights at the GMM website.
Miriam Bridges is ICI’s Editorial Director.
TOPICS: SavingsEventsGMMInvestment Education
GMM Panelists Share Tips on Strengthening Cybersecurity
By Andrew Gillies
May 7, 2013
Cybersecurity gained prominence as a topic of discussion at ICI’s General Membership Meeting (GMM), held last week in Washington, DC. “Hugely important,” said Mary John Miller, the Treasury Department’s under secretary for domestic finance, in her GMM remarks.
TOPICS: Events
Operations and Technology Leadership Roundtable
By Andrew Gillies
May 6, 2013
Superstorm Sandy and the April 15 terrorist attack in Boston rattled assumptions and recalibrated thinking about disaster management, agreed panelists at the Leadership Roundtable of ICI’s 2013 Operations and Technology Conference on May 2 in Washington.
TOPICS: Events
In Case You Missed It: Chairman White’s GMM Speech
By Mike McNamee
May 3, 2013
The Securities and Exchange Commission has posted Chairman Mary Jo White’s address to ICI’s 55th General Membership Meeting.
TOPICS: ICI GlobalEvents
SEC Is Integrating Itself into the Global Financial System, Chairman White Tells ICI Conference
By Rachel McTague
May 3, 2013
In a speech at ICI’s General Membership Meeting today, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Mary Jo White highlighted the myriad ways that the SEC, in light of an increasingly global regulatory environment, pursues its mission to protect U.S. investors and markets and to promote capital formation.
TOPICS: Events
Luncheon with Keynote Speaker: Lloyd C. Blankfein in Conversation with Paul Schott Stevens
By Andrew T. Gillies
May 2, 2013
If Lloyd Blankfein were in charge of the U.S. economy, what would he be most afraid of?
TOPICS: Events
GMM Policy Forum
By Andrew T. Gillies
May 1, 2013
Addressing America’s fiscal challenges will require both raising revenue and cutting government spending, said Mary John Miller, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Under Secretary for Domestic Finance, at the Policy Forum of ICI’s 55th annual General Membership Meeting (GMM).
TOPICS: Events
Treasury’s Miller, Goldman’s Blankfein to Share Insights at ICI’s 2013 GMM
By Sandra J. West
April 4, 2013
For decades, fund executives have come to ICI’s General Membership Meeting (GMM) to get an in-depth understanding of the policy landscape surrounding the industry.
TOPICS: Events
Investment Management in a Rapidly Changing World
By Jennifer Smith
May 11, 2012
Industry leaders exchanged views on developments in China, the ongoing European debt crisis, and how the United States is doing compared to other major economies in a lively and insightful session at ICI’s General Membership Meeting.
TOPICS: Events
Managing Chaos!
By Andrew Gillies
May 11, 2012
Actors dying on set, getting held up at a Chinese border crossings at cost of $500,000 per day, having filming disrupted by floods, sandstorms, snowstorms, and diarrhea outbreaks: George Lucas has seen it all.
“In the movie business,” he told the closing session of ICI’s 54th General Membership Meeting, “every day, something is going to go wrong.” Lucas, founder of Lucasfilm, Ltd., was interviewed by Ariel Investments President Mellody Hobson, ICI Governor and Chairman of ICI’s GMM Planning Committee.
TOPICS: Events
A Regulatory Update Featuring Mary Schapiro
By Rachel McTague
May 11, 2012
Restoring the reputation of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), market volatility and market structure, financial literacy, and the SEC’s efforts to make further structural changes to money market funds took center stage as SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro fielded questions from Mellody Hobson, Chairman of the ICI General Membership Meeting and President of Ariel Investments, on May 11.
TOPICS: Events
Operations and Technology Leadership Roundtable
By Candice Gullett
May 10, 2012
At the Leadership Roundtable for the Operations and Technology Conference, leaders from the industry answered questions posed by the moderator, Barry Benjamin—U.S. and Global Asset Management Leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP—as well as questions from the audience. The major issues the panel discussed were people, regulatory change, technology, and social media.
TOPICS: Events
Managing Global Funds in Challenging Times
By Andrew Gillies
May 10, 2012
Immense opportunities lie ahead for global fund managers, agreed panelists at a session at ICI’s 54th General Membership Meeting.
“We are only seeing the tip of the iceberg,” said Vijay C. Advani, Executive Vice President, Global Advisory Services at Franklin Resources, Inc. Advani, whose firm draws half of its flows from outside the United States, cited a recent survey predicting the population of individuals defined as middle class will increase from 1.5 billion currently to 5 billion by 2030.
TOPICS: Events
GMM Leadership Panel: Lasting Values for Challenging Times
By Mike McNamee
May 10, 2012
Helping investors cope with economic risks in Europe and the United States, select products that best meet their financial goals, and manage expectations in a turbulent environment with rising interest rates are among the top challenges for fund advisers, a panel of industry leaders told ICI’s General Membership Meeting.
TOPICS: Events
Luncheon with Keynote Speaker Howard Schultz
By Andrew Gillies
May 10, 2012
“What is the role and responsibility of business leaders, corporations, CEOs, when you know that the path that the country is going down is not the right path, and people are being left behind?” That was the question posed to ICI’s 54th General Membership Meeting by Starbucks Chairman, President, and CEO Howard Schultz during his lunchtime keynote address.
TOPICS: Events
The Media, the Medium, and the Message
By Miriam Bridges
May 10, 2012
In a candid conversation exploring how the mutual fund industry must engage “old” and “new” media to communicate their messages, panelists Arianna Huffington, President and Editor in Chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, F. William McNabb III, Chairman and CEO of Vanguard, and Gillian Tett, U.S. Managing Editor of the Financial Times shared their perspectives on today’s media and messaging.
TOPICS: Events
Fund Distribution: Evolving Challenges and Complexities
By Candice Gullet
May 10, 2012
“Fund Distribution: Evolving Challenges and Complexities,” a joint session for the General Membership Meeting and the Operations and Technology Conference, explored the implications for the fund industry of the continuing transition to fee-based advisory programs, trends in product development, and the use of social media. Bob Cunha, Principal at Market Metrics, moderated the discussion, which focused significantly on the increasing use of the Rep as PM (representative as portfolio manager) platform. One of the main arguments against these models is portfolio turnover and the relatively large volume of trading.
TOPICS: Events
Serving Retirement Savers in a Changing Regulatory Environment
By Mike McNamee
May 10, 2012
The 401(k) and other defined contribution plans are evolving toward new structures and products to help participants solve their savings and investment challenges, and new regulations now under consideration need to be crafted to support that trend, a panel of retirement plan experts told ICI’s General Membership Meeting.
TOPICS: Events
At GMM Policy Forum, Secretary of Education Duncan Offers Steps to Address Education Crisis
By Miriam Bridges
May 9, 2012
America faces a skills crisis and other deep challenges in education, said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan at the annual GMM policy forum, part of ICI’s 54th General Membership Meeting. In a conversation with ICI President and CEO Paul Schott Stevens, Secretary Duncan offered a range of ways to address these challenges, including specific recommendations for the fund industry.
TOPICS: EventsInvestment Education
Our Commitment to Advancing the Interests of Investors
By Paul Schott Stevens
May 9, 2012
This week, the fund industry gathers in Washington, DC, for ICI’s General Membership Meeting. This annual conference, which draws together several robust programs, offers us a chance to engage with colleagues across the industry landscape, to deepen our understanding of our businesses, and reaffirm the values that have made this industry one that serves more than 90 million shareholders.
TOPICS: Financial MarketsEvents
Experience Talks: Insight from Three Top Investment Leaders
By Inga Vitols
May 6, 2011
In a panel discussion moderated by John Rogers, Chairman and CEO of Ariel Investments, panelists Eddie Brown, President and CEO of Brown Capital Management, G. Stanley Cates, President of Longleaf Partners Funds, and Jack Laporte, Vice President of T. Rowe Price Associates, candidly discussed their own experiences and insight in money management and investing.
TOPICS: Events
SEC Chairman: SEC Examining Role of High Frequency Traders
By Rachel McTague
May 6, 2011
On the first anniversary of the 2010 “flash crash,” Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Mary Schapiro highlighted the role of high frequency traders that day and said there is cause for the SEC to examine their role.
TOPICS: Financial MarketsEvents
Coping in the Expanding World of Compliance
By Karrie McMillan
May 5, 2011
Compliance officers play a special role in the fund industry. In a nutshell, their job is to make sure the rules are followed—and thus to help maintain the industry’s fiduciary culture and the investor trust that it fosters.
TOPICS: EventsFund Regulation
Fostering the Next Generation of Investors
By Edward C. Bernard
May 4, 2011
In the four years since the financial crisis started, investors have been challenged to progress toward their financial goals even as markets have twisted and turned. For the most part, even in the face of considerable fear and uncertainty, investors stayed the course.
TOPICS: Events
The Way Forward with Fund Investors
By Greg Johnson
May 4, 2011
Each year, ICI’s General Membership Meeting offers the fund industry a chance to come together to reflect on the past year and to look ahead to new opportunities. For the past eight months, it’s been my honor and pleasure to chair the GMM Planning Committee, working with a dedicated and talented group of individuals to organize this meeting.
TOPICS: Events
Geithner: FSOC Will Bring Clarity to the Designation of 'SIFIs'
By Rachel McTague
May 4, 2011
In the four years since the financial crisis started, investors have been challenged to progress toward their financial goals even as markets have twisted and turned. For the most part, even in the face of considerable fear and uncertainty, investors stayed the course.
TOPICS: Events
For the Fund Industry, “Sunlight Through the Clouds”
By Karrie McMillan
March 29, 2011
The U.S. financial system is emerging from the global crisis. Financial markets have regained their footing. The Federal Reserve has significantly reduced its emergency facilities. The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted its amendments to Rule 2a-7 for money market funds.
TOPICS: Financial MarketsEvents
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner to Provide Policy Perspective at ICI’s 2011 GMM
By Sandra J. West
March 9, 2011
Since 1959, ICI’s General Membership Meeting has provided fund industry executives an exceptional forum to discuss key business issues, gain a deep understanding of the policy landscape, and network with colleagues from around the country and overseas.
TOPICS: Events
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