Insight
Forecasting Equity Returns – What Can I Count On in 2024? Part Three: Smoke and Mirrors Day – A Celebration of Small Caps, Global Funds and Emerging Markets
Photo credit: Pixabay A three-part conversation with Highland Consulting Associates. Over the past several weeks we have been considering what you can expect from investment returns in 2024—or, rather, whether you can count on 2024 predictions at all. We’ve organized this series into three parts (see Part One and Part Two) to cover the major…
Read MoreThe Power of the PENsion: Am I a Plan Fiduciary? What Does That Mean?
Photo credit: iStock If your job responsibilities include involvement with an employee benefit plan, you may be a fiduciary, and so might others be who help manage the plan or its assets. Given that, it is important to know what a fiduciary is, who is deemed to be a fiduciary, and what the responsibilities are…
Read MoreForecasting Equity Returns – What Can I Count On in 2024? Part Two: What are the Pieces of the Pie? (And Is Your Pie Getting Smaller?)
Photo credit: Pixabay A three-part conversation with Highland Consulting Associates. In the next several weeks we’ll consider what you can expect from investment returns in 2024—or, rather, whether you can count on 2024 predictions at all. We’ll break this series into three parts to cover the major areas of investment opportunities beginning with historical returns,…
Read MoreThe 401(k) Forfeiture Kerfuffle and What it Means for 401(k) Plan Sponsors
photo credit: istock On February 21, 2024, yet another lawsuit was filed against a 401(k) plan sponsor over alleged misuse of forfeited retirement plan savings of terminated participants. This is the seventh lawsuit filed by the Pasadena-based law firm of Hayes Pawlenko LLP in federal district courts throughout California. This latest claim against Tetra Tech…
Read MoreForecasting Equity Returns – What Can I Count On in 2024? Part One: Normalized Distribution – Ring a Bell (Curve)?
Photo credit: Pixabay A three-part conversation with Highland Consulting Associates. In the next several weeks we’ll consider what you can expect from investment returns in 2024—or, rather, whether you can count on 2024 predictions at all. We’ll break this series into three parts to cover the major areas of investment opportunities beginning with historical returns,…
Read MoreSVB – A Year After the Bank’s Collapse
Photo Credit: Alexey Yarkin Short-sighted, Vulnerable, Broke Nearly a year ago, Silicon Valley Bank failed. On March 8, 2023, SVB announced a $1.75 billion capital raising effort, offering its common stock and depository shares. As the announcement moved through media outlets, the message heard was this: SVB is short on capital and it may not…
Read MorePower of the PENsion: Two-Faced January – Looking Back to Look Ahead at Capital Markets
Looking Back to Look Ahead at Capital Markets The month of January is named for the Roman god Janus, the god of thresholds and new beginnings. Janus is depicted with two heads signifying his look back to the past even as he looks forward to the future. At Highland, it’s been our practice to analyze…
Read MoreOperation London Bridge – What’s Your Plan?
photo credit: Unsplash “Begin with the end in mind.” −Stephen Covey In December 2023, the award-winning Netflix series on Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family, The Crown, ended its run. During a recent break, we found ourselves watching those later episodes of the aging Queen at the time of her Golden Jubilee and, later,…
Read MoreThe Power of the PENsion: Reality and Resolutions – Guaranteed Retirement Income
photo credit Unsplash The Reality Americans have experienced in recent years: a worldwide pandemic, inflation, interest rate increases and geopolitical issues. There is a general feeling of unease. Add to that baseline the anxiety that workers report (up 33% in 2023[i]) concern about their jobs, their earnings, and their future financial security. According to a…
Read MoreAuld Lang Syne: Some Things Remain the Same (including Retirement Plan Committee Best Practices)
photo credit Pixabay As 2023 ends and a new year begins, in Scotland’s highlands and lowlands you’re likely to hear the familiar “Auld Lang Syne,” a Scottish expression meaning “old long since.” It’s a tribute to times past or a longing for old times. If you’re a plan sponsor fatigued by the pace of change,…
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