News release: “Today U.S. Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI), chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, held a hearing on strengthening the 401(k) system, with a particular focus on the proliferation, composition, and regulation of target date funds. Target date funds, sometimes called lifecycle funds, are a type of mutual fund that automatically rebalances to a more conservative asset allocation as the participant approaches their target retirement date. Witnesses at todays hearing explored issues considered detrimental to the effectiveness of target date funds, including lack of disclosure to plan participants and sponsors, excessive hidden fees, conflicts of interest and lack of fiduciary responsibility on behalf of plan managers, and the need for additional enforcement and oversight efforts by the related agencies. The Committee released a report, Target Date Retirement Funds: Lack of Clarity Among Structures and Fees Raises Concerns, highlighting these concerns, many of which were unearthed during its ongoing investigation into the funds.”
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Daily Archives: October 28, 2009
New GAO Reports: 401(K) Plans, Higher Education and Disability, DOD Human Capital, NextGen Air Transport, Cyber Security
401(K) Plans: Several Factors Can Diminish Retirement Savings, but Automatic Enrollment Shows Promise for Increasing Participation and Savings, GAO-10-153T, October 28, 2009 Higher Education and Disability: Education Needs a Coordinated Approach to Improve Its Assistance to Schools in Supporting Students, GAO-10-33, October 28, 2009 Human Capital: Monitoring of Safeguards and Addressing Employee Perceptions Are Key… Continue Reading
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Audits Identifying Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
10-004 Iraq Reconstruction Funds: Forensic Audits Identifying Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Interim Report #1, October 28, 2009: “Our 17 audits of major reconstruction contracts involving about $6.4 billion in Iraq reconstruction funds identified a number of common or crosscutting internal control weaknesses…” Continue Reading
Federal Agencies Enter an Agreement Regarding Transmission Siting on Federal Lands
News release: “Today, Obama Administration officials released a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by nine Federal Departments and Agencies to make it faster and simpler to build transmission lines on Federal lands. The goal of the agreement is to speed approval of new transmission lines, reduce expense and uncertainty in the process, generate cost savings,… Continue Reading
FOIA Lawsuit Yields Unclassified FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide
New York Times: “In September 2008, the Bush administration changed domestic intelligence-gathering rules. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s interpretation of those rules was recently made public when the bureau released a redacted copy of its “Domestic Investigations and Operation Guide” in response to a Freedom of Information lawsuit. The new rules have given F.B.I. agents… Continue Reading
