Compliance March 31, 2006

Chao Names 2006 Benefit Advisory Council Members

March 31, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - US Secretary of Labor (DoL) Elaine Chao on Friday tapped five new members of the 2006 Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans.
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Chao also named a council president for the advisory panel that advises her on regulation of pension and benefit issues, a DoL news release said.

The new appointees and their council positions are, according to the DoL announcement:  

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  • William Scogland, representing employers, is a senior partner in Jenner & Block’s Chicago office where he chairs the firm’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice.  
  • Dennis Simmons, representing investment managers, is principal and senior counsel responsible for Vanguard’s ERISA Legal Department.  
  • Edward Schwartz, representing the general public, is president of the investment firm Gregory J. Schwartz & Co. Inc.
  • Robert Archer, representing employee organizations, is a senior labor partner in the Labor and Employee Benefits Department of the New York – based law firm Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein P.C.  
  • Edward Mollahan, representing the corporate trust industry, is senior vice president at JP MorganChase Bank.  

The 2006 chair is Sherrie Grabot of San Jose, California.   Grabot is president of GuidedChoice, a company that provides investment advice to 401(k) plans. This year’s vice chair is James McCool of Akron, Ohio.   In his second year on the council, McCool is senior vice president, corporate and retirement services, of Charles Schwab, the DoL announcement said.

Investing March 30, 2006

Funds Close out February with Tiny Asset Gain Increase

March 30, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The total amount of mutual fund assets in the US inched up in February by 0.3% or $25.9 billion, according to new data from the Investment Company Institute (ICI).
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According to the monthly ICI asset report, funds had $9.21 trillion in new assets, compared to $9.19 trillion in January.

Stock funds boasted a $5.19 trillion influx in February, flat from the month before, while hybrid funds could only manage a slight uptick of 0.2% to $582 million. Overall, ICI said stock funds had a $27.33 inflow in February, compared to a $31.58 billion inflow the month before. World equity funds boasted an $18.98 billion inflow versus a $23.54 billion in January while US funds saw had an $8.35 billion asset advance, over an $8.04 billion increase in the prior month.

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Meanwhile, taxable bond funds ended the month with just over $1 trillion in assets after a similarly slim 0.6% increase over January and muni bond funds ended February at $346 million, up a comparatively generous 1.4%, ICI said.

The full February report is  here .

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