Advisor Sales Strategies

The U.S. Department of Labors Employee Benefits Security Administration and the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that information the EBSA requires plan administrators to give to plan participants or beneficiaries under its participant-level fee disclosure regulation will satisfy the requirements of Rule 482 under the Securities Act of 1933.

TD Ameritrade Institutional attracted 348 breakaway brokers in 2011, a nearly 20 percent increase from the previous fiscal year.

Most pension plans will see their funded status drop significantly in 2011, with plan sponsors facing sharply higher contributions, according to an analysis by Mercer actuaries.

A new Investment Company Institute study of participant activity in 401(k) plans shows that individuals are still committed to saving for their retirement, despite market volatility.

Americans' incomes have stagnated for three straight months. Yet they boosted their spending in September 0.6 percent three times the increase in August.

As the U.S. retirement plan industry prepares for new cost disclosures in 2012, heres a simple fact to remember: The surest and quickest way to reduce participants all-in cost of retirement plan ownership is to add index funds to the menu.