The company said it decided to broaden its Japan
offerings after receiving a significant amount of Internet
traffic on its Web site (
www.creditgrades.com
) from that country.
RickMetrics announced in a press release it planned to
add more Asian data this fall and extensions to North
American and European coverage by YE 2002.
The product is used in determining credit quality of
public companies based on observable market quantities such
as equity price history and balance sheet information and a
standard set of model assumptions.
August 15, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Plan sponsors
may find it easier to help participants obtain investment
advice if pension reformers U.S. Representatives. Rob Portman
(R-Ohio) and Ben Cardin (D-Maryland) have their
way.
Among the possible proposals for a follow-up bill the
two legislators expect to discuss after the August
Congressional recess is legislation that would allow
companies to pay for employees to get finance advice,
Portman spokesman Jim Morrell told PLANSPONSOR.com.
Still unclear is whether that would mean visiting a
financial planner or whether it could include purchase of
advice computer software, he said.
Morrell said preliminary discussions have centered on
companies offering the financial advice payment as part of
a “cafeteria-style” benefits package, an approach currently
barred.
“Cafeteria-style” packages typically give employees a
specific number of units which they can “spend” on an array
of benefits including health, dental, vision, prescription
drug, etc.
Not Done Yet
The notion of a “to do” pension reform list first
surfaced publicly earlier this summer when Portman and
Cardin told a Washington, D.C. conference that their
recently enacted legislation was far from the end of their
reform efforts (see
Portman, Cardin Promise Pension Reform Follow-through
).
On the list, they told the conference, were proposals
about participant education driven by the DC industry’s
growth of participant-directed plans with long investment
option lists.
Most of Portman and Cardin’s Comprehensive Retirement
Security and Pension Reform Act was enacted into law as
part of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation
Act (EGTRRA) of 2001 (H.R. 1836).