The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has obtained a default judgment ordering fiduciaries of a defunct medical research company’s 401(k) plan to restore $221,225.08 to the plan.
According to the court order, that amount consists of consists of $178,051.42 in missing employer contributions; $36,559.90 in interest on missing employer contributions, calculated as of July 20, 2016; and $6,613.76 in lost interest on untimely employee contributions, calculated as of July 20, 2016.
The DOL say an investigation by its Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) found that Global Research Services, a defunct Rockville, Maryland-based medical research company, established a 401(k) plan for its employees in 2007. Between 2010 and 2013, the company and plan trustee Julie E. Garrett failed to remit elective employee contributions to the plan in a timely manner, and did not pay interest on the untimely contributions. The company also failed to remit employer contributions to the plan from 2010 to 2012.
The court order also removes the defendants as plan fiduciaries, and permanently enjoins them from serving as fiduciaries to any plan covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
State Street Global Advisors Adds 88
Firms to Gender Diversity Index
State
Street Global Advisors, the asset management arm of State Street
Corporation, has added 88 new companies to its Gender Diversity Index. Launched
in March 2016, the index tracks U.S. exchange-listed large capitalization
companies with the highest levels of gender diversity on their boards of
directors and in their senior leadership.
Following
an annual rebalance effective after the close of trading on July 15, 2016, the
top companies added were Pfizer Inc., PepsiCo, 3M, Mastercard, Starbucks,
DuPont, Biogen, Salesforce, Target and The Kroger Co, according to Index
weighting.
“We
applaud the new additions for their efforts in confronting the gender diversity
challenge by hiring and retaining women in senior leadership,” says Ronald
O’Hanley, president and chief executive officer of State Street Global
Advisors. “As an organization, we are deeply committed to helping to close the
gender gap in the workplace, but cannot achieve this goal on our own. We need
to work together to strengthen gender diversity and inclusion practices across
corporate America.”
The
SSGA Gender Diversity Index is rebalanced on an annual basis to ensure the
reflection of its ongoing objective of tracking the performance of companies
dedicated to advancing women throughout their senior leadership positions, SSGA
says.
According to a study by the research
firm MSCI, which explored global trends in gender diversity on corporate boards
between December 2009 and August 2015, companies with at least three female
board members, or companies with a higher percentage of women on the board than
its country’s average, performed better as measured by return on equity (10.1%
per year versus 7.4% for all other companies).
Despite these findings, American
women account for an average of just 16% of the members of executive
teams, MSCI reports.
According to MSCI, the methodology
used in its study is different than that of the Index, and as such, the results
of the study should not be viewed as indicative of the future performance of
the Index.
NEXT:Morningstar
Credit Ratings Now Ranking Financial Institutions
Morningstar
Credit Ratings Now Ranking Financial Institutions
Morningstar Credit Ratings, a
Morningstar subsidiary, recently announced the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC)
has authorized it to rate corporate issuers under its Nationally Recognized
Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO) registration.
Morningstar’s corporate credit
analyst team will continue to provide research, ratings, and analysis for
corporate entities. The company will pursue ratings assignments for
security-specific corporate debt offerings, unsecured real estate investment
trust debt, and financial institutions.
"Morningstar has a long tradition
of providing investors with independent and robust research and ratings on all
types of investments,” says Vickie Tillman, president of Morningstar Credit
Ratings. “Over the past several years, investors have come to rely on our
ratings and analysis in the structured finance markets."
She added, "The expansion of
our NRSRO registration to corporate issuers and financial institutions allows
us to bring transparency and unique forward-looking perspectives to investors
and issuers and provides a compelling alternative to the other NRSROs.
Investors will also benefit from the ability to use our ratings to satisfy
investment guidelines and determine risk-based capital charges on corporate
debt securities."
Morningstar launched corporate
credit ratings and research in December 2009, issuing entity-level, non-NRSRO
ratings and analysis. Morningstar’s 13-member corporate credit analyst team
will move to Morningstar Credit Ratings. Morningstar's corporate and financial
institution credit ratings is recognized as NRSRO credit ratings, as of Aug.
24, 2016.