Note to new readers: This blog post is published in my free PDF download book, Fighting Powerful Interests on the home page of my blog. The tables and charts in this post are much clearer in the book. Just scroll down on the home page until you see this book: Subscribe to my blog and …
AIG went Bankrupt Facebook readers: For the full article click here. In the wee hours of Monday morning September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers, the fourth largest investment bank, declared bankruptcy. Lehman’s event was reported to have triggered the 2008-2009 financial meltdown. In the ensuing months the entire country and the world experienced the greatest economic …
Genuine Financial Transparency Demonstrated, Final Part 10 Read More »
PART 9 (out of 10) SST Talks to LAUSD’s Chief Financial Officer In a desperate attempt to get things moving, our lead consultant talked to the CFO. She told her to respond to the committee motions. The consultant might have scared the bejesus out of her by threatening that as the fiduciary she could be …
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PART 8 (out of 10) Not so fast. First the New Chair Not everyone accepted SST Consultants with open arms. Along with a new consultant LAUSD appointed a new Chair. According to the Bylaws our committee Chair was the LAUSD Benefits Administrator. David moved to another position and his assistant was appointed. A “fight” between …
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PART 7 (out of 10) Victory for the Employees At the next meeting, one of our bright and savvy committee members, Alan, brought a 401k lawsuit that was in the mainstream news. He started talking about the article and how the lack of transparency, especially revenue sharing, had precipitated a lawsuit against the sponsoring company. …
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Part 6 (Out of 10) Suggested replacement funds were in the asset class to accommodate the diversification requirement of the Investment Policy Statement. We made it clear the total costs above 1% were too high. These alternatives cost less than 1% total. With the amount of expected assets coming from thousands of potential LAUSD customers, …
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PART 5 (out of 10) Most Expensive Funds The remaining eight funds were too expensive, in my opinion. All five Lifecylce T. Row Price funds, Turner Mid-Cap Growth, Janus Mid-Cap Value and Davis NY Venture A cost over 1.0% total cost. At 1.35% Turner Mid-Cap Growth, the highest cost fund, would grow in somebody else’s …
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Part 4 (out of 10) Total Costs to Participants Finally Revealed Investment costs are the most protective pieces of information in the financial industry, hermetically sealed from public view for good reason. If people found out how much they were paying over several decades they would realize how all those hidden costs and expenses eat …
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Part 3 (out of 10) School Districts’ Love Affair with Insurance Companies PreK-12 school districts are rampant with insurance companies’ 403b products. So, choosing an insurance company should not be a surprise. We experienced this dance before—this decision to select AIG-VALIC was contradictory to Mr. Tischler’s vision. The American Federation of Teachers’ (AFT) also produced …
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Mercer Consultants Mercer’s rep marched to the podium with a briefcase and stacks of reports, wearing a smartly dressed dark suit. I got a heads-up about Mercer from my professional friend, Brian Cressey. Without hesitation he said “Mercer is the crème de la crème of retirement plan consulting firms.” Their website showed they’re a huge …
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