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Recent Posts
- Interpreting the DOL’s Amicus Brief and its Potential Impact on the Future of 401(k) Litigation
- Fiduciary InvestSense™: Annuities, Plan Sponsors, and Fiduciary Law
- The Active Expense Ratio: Fiduciary Risk Management’s “Little Secret”
- Common Sense and Fundamental Fairness: The Matney Case and the Future of 401(k)/403(b) Litigation
- 1Q 2023 AMVR “Cheat Sheets”: How Much Active Management Do Actively Managed Funds Really Provide?
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Category Archives: closet index funds
The Active Expense Ratio: Fiduciary Risk Management’s “Little Secret”
By James W. Watkins, J.D., CFP Board Emeritus™, AWMA® When I created the Active Management Value Ratio (AMVR) metric, the goal was to create a simple tool that would allow investors, investment fiduciaries, and attorneys to quickly and easily evaluate … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 401k plan design, 401k risk management, 403b, Active Management Value Ratio, AMVR, asset allocation, closet index funds, compliance, cost consciousness, cost efficient, cost-efficiency, Cost_Efficiency, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary risk management, fiduciary standard, investment advisers, investments, Mutual funds, pension plans, plan advisers, plan sponsors, prudence, retirement planning, retirement plans, risk management, SCOTUS, wealth management, wealth preservation
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, 401k litigation, compliance, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary risk management, fiduciaryliability, investment advisers, retirement plans
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1Q 2023 AMVR “Cheat Sheets”: How Much Active Management Do Actively Managed Funds Really Provide?
By James W. Watkins, J.D., CFP Board Emeritus™, AWMA® The words that I rememberFrom my childhood still are trueThat there’s none so blindAs those who will not see– Justin Hayward/Moody Blues – “I Know You’re Out There Somewhere” I know … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 401k plan design, 401k risk management, 403b, Active Management Value Ratio, AMVR, closet index funds, compliance, cost consciousness, cost efficient, cost-efficiency, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary risk management, fiduciary standard, investment advisers, investments, Mutual funds, pension plans, plan advisers, plan sponsors, prudence, retirement plans, risk management, SCOTUS, SEC, Supreme Court, wealth management, wealth preservation
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, 401k fiduciary, 401k risk management, compliance, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary risk management, investment advisers, retirement plans
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401(k) InvestSense: Focus on Fiduciary Process Over Product
By James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP Board Emeritus™, AWMA® People often ask me what is the most common mistake that plan sponsors make, The answer is simple-assuming unnecessary fiduciary liability exposure by focusing on product rather than process. Actually, … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 401k plan design, 401k risk management, 403b, Active Management Value Ratio, AMVR, Annuities, best interest, closet index funds, compliance, cost consciousness, cost efficient, cost-efficiency, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary risk management, fiduciary standard, investment advisers, investments, Mutual funds, pension plans, plan advisers, plan sponsors, prudence, retirement plans, risk management, wealth management, wealth preservation
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, 401k fiduciary, compliance, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary duty, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibilities, fiduciary risk management, fiduciary standard, fiduciaryliability, fiduciaryoversight, investment advisers, retirement plans
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Brotherston Revisited: Will the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals “Fix” the Ongoing 401(k) SNAFU?
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored” – Aldous Huxley In 2018, the First Circuit handed down its decision in Brotherston v. Putnam Investments, LLC.1 The decision is arguably the best analysis of the applicable fiduciary standards … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 401k plan design, 401k risk management, 403b, closet index funds, compliance, cost consciousness, cost efficient, cost-efficiency, Cost_Efficiency, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary risk management, fiduciary standard, Mutual funds, pension plans, plan advisers, plan sponsors, prudence, Reg BI, retirement planning, retirement plans, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, 401k litigation, 401k plans, compliance, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary, fiduciary duty, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary risk management, investment advisers, retirement plans
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4Q 2022 AMVR “Cheat Sheets”: Correlation of Returns, “Closet Indexing,” and Fiduciary Liability
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP Board EmeritusTM, AWMATM First, note the new URL address. After years of having to explain the old “iainsight.wordpress.com” URL, we finally worked with WordPress to accomplish the re-branding. Kudos to WordPress for working with … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 401k plan design, 401k risk management, Active Management Value Ratio, AMVR, closet index funds, compliance, consumer protection, cost consciousness, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary risk management, fiduciary standard, investment advisers, investments, Mutual funds, pension plans, plan advisers, plan sponsors, prudence, retirement plans, risk management, SEC, securities, securities compliance, trust realtionships, wealth management, wealth preservation
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, Active Expense Ratio, Active Management Value Ratio, compliance, costefficiency, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, investment advisers, retirement plans
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An Inconvenient Truth: Cost-Inefficiency and Closet Indexing in 401(k) Plans
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored” – Aldous Huxley The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent decision in the CommonSpirit Health (CommonSpirit)1 401(k) action has brought renewed attention to several key 401(k) compliance and fiduciary liability … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 403b, Active Management Value Ratio, AMVR, best interest, closet index funds, compliance, consumer protection, cost consciousness, cost efficient, cost-efficiency, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, investments, Mutual funds, pension plans, plan sponsors, prudence, Reg BI, retirement plans, risk management, wealth management, wealth preservation
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, 403b, compliance, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, investment advisers, plan participants, plansponsors, retirement plans
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“Meaningful Choices”: Cost-Efficiency, the CommonSpirit Health decision, and the Future of 401(k) Litigation
Recently, the Sixth Circuit handed down its decision in the Smith v. CommonSpirit Health (“CommonSpirit) 401(k) action.1 My immediate reaction was “hello again SCOTUS,” as once again we have inconsistent and irreconcilable rulings between two circuits involving ERISA litigation The … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 403b, Active Management Value Ratio, AMVR, best interest, closet index funds, cost consciousness, cost efficient, cost-efficiency, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary standard, investment advisers, investments, Mutual funds, pension plans, plan sponsors, prudence, Reg BI, wealth management, wealth preservation
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, compliance, cost-efficiency, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, investment advisers, plansponsors, retirement plans
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“The Lie of the Pie”: Mutual Fund Marketing “Trickeration”
by James W. Watkins, III The financial services industry likes to use charts…a lot of charts. Attorneys do not like charts. Charts can be confusing and misleading, sometimes deliberately so. One judge told me that after I had argued the … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, Active Management Value Ratio, AMVR, asset allocation, closet index funds, clsoet index funds, compliance, consumer protection, cost consciousness, cost efficient, cost-efficiency, Cost_Efficiency, ERISA, evidence based investing, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary standard, investment advisers, investments, Mutual funds, pension plans, plan sponsors, prudence, wealth management, wealth preservation
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, Active Expense Ratio, Active Management Value Ratio, compliance, cost-efficiency, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, Mutual funds
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Redefining Fiduciary Prudence for 401(k) Plan Sponsors
by James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP®, AWMA® The legal requirement for prudence, as defined in ERISA Section 404(a)(1)(B), is for a fiduciary to discharge his or her duties with: “the care, skill, prudence, and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent man acting in a … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 403b, Active Management Value Ratio, AMVR, closet index funds, compliance, consumer protection, cost consciousness, cost efficient, cost-efficiency, DOL fiduciary rule, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, investment advisers, investments, pension plans, plan sponsors, prudence, retirement plans, risk management
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, Active Management Value Ratio, AMVR, compliance, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, investment advisers, plan sponsors, retirement plans
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Connecting the Dots: Correlation of Returns and Fiduciary Prudence
With SCOTUS’ recent decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University1, we now have what I like to refer to as the “fiduciary responsibility trinity” (Trinity). The Trinity consists of the Tibble v. Edison International2 (Tibble), Brotherston v. Putnam Investments, LLC3(Brotherston), and … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 403b, Active Management Value Ratio, closet index funds, compliance, consumer protection, cost consciousness, cost efficient, cost-efficiency, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, pension plans, prudence, wealth management, wealth preservation
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, 404c compliance, compliance, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, investment advisers, retirement plans
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