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Byline: DOUG HALONEN Total assets of the 100 largest public pension funds were $2.495 trillion in the third quarter, up 6.2% from three months earlier and up 5.2% from a [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Former House Speaker and possible GOP presidential contender Newt Gingrich is pushing for federal legislation giving financially strapped states the right to file for bankruptcy and renege [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen A threat that federal policymakers might try to trim the amount of tax-deferred contributions that can be made to retirement plans next year is causing such a [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen A new regulation proposed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission promises to throw a huge monkey wrench into the ability of pension plans to enter into swap [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Business and taxpayer groups and representatives of local governments and unions are squaring off over what is expected be a major legislative brawl next year concerning a [...]

Byline: DOUG HALONEN The endorsement Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, has received from his fellow Republicans to serve as House speaker after the new Congress convenes Jan. 5 suggests retirement issues [...]

Byline: DOUG HALONEN The SEC on Nov. 3 proposed new rules that would allow the agency to pay whistle-blowers from 10% to 30% of the monetary sanctions collected as a [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Corporate pension industry lobbyists are bracing for an attack on the tax breaks for pension plans as the White House and federal lawmakers struggle to slash the [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen The prospect of FINRA regulation for hedge funds and other money managers is scaring them enough that they are offering to open their wallets to help the [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., the nation's largest proxy advisory firm, could be forced to revise its business plan if the Labor Department adopts a new proposed regulation [...]

Byline: DOUG HALONEN The longstanding concerns of pension industry lobbyists about the accuracy of PBGC's financial projections should be eased now that the agency has agreed to release its pension [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Like many other pension funds desperate for higher returns, the $63.5 billon North Carolina Retirement Systems, Raleigh, is significantly reducing its equity allocation and clearing the way [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen The Republican takeover of the House predicted by key pundits next month would have a major impact on legislation related to retirement plans and the firms that [...]

Byline: DOUG HALONEN A systemwide moratorium on foreclosures would be 'catastrophic' and could damage the housing market and economy, warned Tim Ryan, president and CEO of the Securities Industry and [...]

Byline: DOUG HALONEN Higher automatic enrollment and contribution escalation rates improve 401(k) participants' chances of getting 80% of their preretirement income at retirement through their 401(k) plans and Social Security [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Many third-party placement agents were caught by surprise by the Oct. 1 deadline to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Some also were unclear whether they [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen The South Carolina Retirement System's plan to create an external firm to manage the $24 billion system's illiquid assets is expected to be delayed on the recommendation [...]

Byline: DOUG HALONEN Federal Thrift Savings Plan, Washington, would add a socially responsible investment option to the $240 billion defined contribution plan for federal employees under legislation introduced by Rep. [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Department of Labor regulations on enhanced retirement plan fee disclosures won't be changed by efforts from House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., to enact [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Public pension funds shortchanged in contributions by their states could be permanently hurt by the 2008 market meltdown and be forced to liquidate some investments to pay [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Key Obama administration executives are distancing themselves from a proposal requiring employer-sponsored retirement plans to offer an annuity payout option. 'I prefer focusing on education, helping people [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Three Senate leaders want the Securities and Exchange Commission to broaden agency regulations proposed in June on the advertising and marketing of target-date funds to include funds [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen A national organization of accountants wants the Department of Labor to back stricter annual audit requirements for retirement plans -- a move that auditors contend will result [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen The SEC and other federal regulators will determine whether money managers' compensation is considered 'excessive, and that has managers on tenterhooks. The Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal [...]

Byline: DOUG HALONEN Easter Seals Inc. is seeking legislation that would enable the Chicago-based charitable organization to take full advantage of a recently enacted law providing funding relief to pension [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Obama administration-backed legislation that would require employers without another retirement plan to set up automatic IRAs is being introduced in Congress despite persistent opposition from employer groups. [...]

Byline: DOUG HALONEN The Department of Labor's long-awaited rule detailing the fee and compensation information that service providers must give to plan sponsors is expected to be a boon to [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Richard H. Moore, the former North Carolina state treasurer, is back on the hot seat because the state Supreme Court revived a lawsuit seeking to require disclosure [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen The Department of Labor's long-awaited rule detailing the fee and compensation information that service providers must give to plan sponsors is expected to be a boon to [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Experts participating in Pensions & Investments' round table on the future of Social Security disagreed over the urgency for repairing the system and just what the remedy [...]

Byline: DOUG HALONEN The SEC on June 30 cracked down on money managers using campaign contributions to influence their hiring by public pension plans. Under a new rule, money managers [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Long-pending proposed Department of Labor regulations to enhance 401(k) fee disclosure requirements have been put on hold to give Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., more time to try [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Mansco Perry III's first two years as chief investment officer for a major public pension fund have been a roller-coaster ride. Just before he stepped in as [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen A new consumer protection agency created by the financial reform legislation will be able to regulate services that record keepers, investment consultants and other administrative services provide [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Prospects for legislation enhancing 401(k) plan fee-disclosure requirements remain murky because House and Senate Democrats along with service providers are at loggerheads over the issue. The crux [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Mutual fund executives are slamming new fee-disclosure legislation approved by the House on May 28 on grounds that it could derail the Department of Labor's own long-pending [...]

Byline: DOUG HALONEN Elena Kagan, nominated May 10 by President Barack Obama to become a U.S. Supreme Court justice, urged the high court in a filing last year to reject [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Revenue generation for the U.S. Treasury is driving congressional efforts to enact both pension funding relief and a carried interest tax on hedge funds and other alternative [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Top equity performers posted triple-digit gains in the year ended March 31, with the returns of small-cap value managers leading the pack in Morningstar Inc.'s separate account/ [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Legislation pending in the Senate could put the kibosh on the use of swaps and other derivatives by all defined benefit and defined contribution plans. The bill [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Retirement plan service providers are urging federal lawmakers to kill provisions in financial industry reform bills that would subject investment consultants, record keepers and other firms that [...]

Byline: DOUG HALONEN House Democrats lack a sense of urgency and that's why funding relief for defined benefit plan sponsors has gone nowhere, according to Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio. 'I'm [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Two key Senate committee chairmen are backing proposals to increase the number of board members overseeing the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., boosting prospects for approval of legislation [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Pension lobbyists are urging Congress to exempt defined benefit plans that use swaps and other derivatives from being required to set aside cash for margin requirements and [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen The Labor Department's revamped proposal on investment advice could give index funds a big leg up in winning DC assets at the expense of active managers, leaving [...]

Byline: Doug Halonen Some employers would have to make additional contributions to their defined benefit plans to qualify for funding relief under a provision in a huge Senate tax and [...]