Firm Brings Derivatives Strategy, Execution Services
to Market
April 28, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Macro Risk
Advisors LLC (MRA) has announced the full scale operational
capability of its equity derivatives focused broker
dealer.
According to the announcement, MRA provides
institutional investors with derivatives market insight,
was well as what the firm called “actionable trade
ideas and greater trade execution efficiency” for
equities, ETFs, listed options, and OTC derivatives.
“The financial market crisis leaves investors
exposed to unprecedented equity volatility and in need of a
trading partner that delivers solutions,” said Dean
Curnutt, founder and president of MRA. “Our team of
equity derivative professionals excels in combining
superior market insight with proven expertise in
salestrading. We deliver the strategic advice investors
need while achieving efficient execution by accessing a
dispersed pool of liquidity. At MRA, the salestrader and
strategist are one and the same.”
Curnutt was formerly the Head of Institutional Equity
Derivatives and Convertible Sales at Banc of America
Securities. MRA, which became a member of FINRA in April
2009, has been providing trading and strategy ideas to a
select group of clients since April 2008. With FINRA
membership, MRA can now provide execution services to
clients in addition to market insight, according to the
firm.
ICI Annual Fact Book Puts Stats to Downturn's
Impact
April 27, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - That retirement
plan assets collapsed in value during 2008 is not news to
participants, but newly released industry data now puts a
total value on the decrease: 22% to $14 trillion in 2008 over
a year earlier.
That is just one statistic in an avalanche of data in
the Investment Company Institute’s (ICI) latest annual
Investment Company Fact Book, which offers a variety of
statistics about mutual funds and other investment vehicles
held inside and outside of retirement plans.
According to the ICI, all types of retirement
assets declined in value in 2008. Private-sector defined
benefit (DB) plan assets fell 27%; state and local
government employee retirement plan assets fell 27%;
employer-sponsored defined contribution (DC) plan assets
fell 22%; individual retirement accounts (IRAs) fell 24%;
and annuity reserves outside of retirement plans fell
15%.
The ICI release also includes a comprehensive
snapshot of retirement plan assets at year-end
2008.
Eighty-two million, or 70% of, U.S. households
report that they had employer-sponsored retirement plans,
IRAs, or both in May 2008. Sixty-one percent of U.S.
households reported that they had assets in DC plan
accounts, were receiving or expecting to receive benefits
from DB plans, or both while 41% of households reported
having assets in IRAs. Thirty-two percent of households
had both IRAs and employer-sponsored retirement
plans.
Of the $14-trillion retirement market, 2% or $3.1
trillion was in mutual funds while the remaining $10.8
trillion in assets were managed by pension funds,
insurance companies, banks, and brokerage firms.
The largest components of retirement savings were
IRAs and employer-sponsored DC plans, holding $3.6
trillion and $3.5 trillion, respectively, at year-end
2008, ICI said. Private-sector DB pension funds held $2
trillion in assets; state and local government employee
retirement plans held $2.3 trillion in assets; and
federal government DB plans and the federal employees’
Thrift Savings Plan held $1.2 trillion in assets. In
addition, there were $1.4 trillion in annuity reserves
outside of retirement plans at year-end 2008.
According to the ICI data, at the end of 2008,
employer-sponsored DC plans held an estimated $3.5
trillion in assets. With $2.4 trillion in assets at
year-end 2008, 401(k) plans held the largest share while
403(b) plans and 457 plans held another $712 billion in
assets. The remaining $455 billion in DC plan assets were
held by other DC plans without 401(k) features, ICI
said.
Of the $3.1 trillion in mutual fund retirement
assets held in IRAs, 401(k) plans, and other retirement
accounts at year-end 2008, $1.8 trillion, or 57%, were
invested in domestic or foreign equity funds. Domestic
equity funds alone constituted about $1.4 trillion, or
44%, of mutual fund retirement assets. By comparison,
about 39% of overall fund industry assets—including
retirement and nonretirement accounts—were invested in
domestic and foreign equity funds at year-end 2008.
At year-end 2008, approximately $837 billion, or
27%, of mutual fund retirement assets were invested in
fixed-income funds (bond or money market funds). Bond
funds held $415 billion, or 13%, of mutual fund
retirement assets, and money market funds accounted for
$422 billion, or 13%.
Assets in lifestyle and lifecycle funds totaled
$340 billion at the end of 2008, down from $421 billion
at year-end 2007. Lifestyle funds' assets were down 26%
in 2008, declining from $238 billion to $176 billion.
Assets of lifecycle funds were down 10% in 2008,
decreasing from $183 billion to $164 billion. The bulk
(87%) of lifecycle fund assets was held in retirement
accounts, compared with 43% of lifestyle fund
assets.
The ICI release also included data about investors'
use of advisers. Generally, fund investors who chose to
work with advisers indicated that the relationship
improved their chances of growing their money and gave
them peace of mind about their investments. They cited
several tangible benefits of the investor/adviser
relationship, expressing the common theme among survey
respondents that using professional financial advisers
provided a level of expertise that enhanced their
investment decisionmaking.
Seventy-one percent of shareholders with ongoing
advisory relationships cited the need for guidance in
understanding their total financial picture, while 74%
wanted help with asset allocation, ICI said.
Seventy-three percent also required explanations of the
wide variety of investment options and 71% wanted to make
sure they were saving enough to meet their financial
goals. Sixty-five percent cited making sure their estate
was in order as a major reason for their advisory
relationship, according to ICI.
ICI survey findings indicate that the more
shareholders rely on their advisers for investment
decisionmaking, the greater the value they place on the
advisory relationship. For example, roughly
three-quarters of shareholders who delegated or made
investment decisions together with their advisers
indicated that they used advisers for their financial
expertise.
At year-end 2008, ICI collected data from 16,262
mutual funds, closed-end funds, exchange-traded funds,
and unit investment trusts managing $10.3 trillion in
assets.