Deals & People January 27, 2012

Cohen & Grigsby Appoints Director

Cohen & Grigsby, a business law firm, appointed Martha Jo (“Marty”) Wagner as a director in the firm’s ERISA and Employee Benefits and ERISA Litigation Groups. 

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Cohen & Grigsby has headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and an office in Bonita Springs, Florida.

Before joining Cohen & Grigsby, Wagner was a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Venable LLP, where she led teams of company personnel, lawyers and consultants that assessed the risks of reducing retiree health benefits for a client with more than 100 retiree health plans and hundreds of millions of dollars in long-term liabilities; created a disciplined, systematic and automated health contract review process for a client with more than 300 benefit designs and more than 65 healthcare vendors; and designed and implemented more than a half dozen voluntary and involuntary severance programs offered simultaneously to almost 10,000 employees.

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She is a Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, serves as a frequent speaker on diverse benefit topics and is the past management co-chairperson of the American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law Employee Benefits Committee.

Wagner received her JC from the Georgetown University Law Center. She also holds a BA degree from the University of Maryland.

 

Data & Research January 27, 2012

Boomer Retirements Likely to Boost IRA Share of Retirement Market

Total asset levels in the U.S. retirement market grew 9.6% from 2009 to 2010, totaling $15.8 trillion as of end of year 2010.
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Cerulli Associates estimates total retirement markets to grow modestly (around 1%) to $16 trillion in 2011 with continuing market recovery, and will total nearly $22 trillion in 2016, according to the firm’s annual analysis of the retirement landscape. Total IRA assets represent 29.7% of total retirement market assets currently, and as large defined contribution (DC) plan rollovers continue to fuel asset levels, IRAs will encompass 33% of the total retirement market by 2016.   

“The decisions Baby Boomers make regarding DC plan balances as they enter retirement continue to greatly impact DC and IRA balances,” said Alessandra Hobler, analyst in Cerulli’s retirement practice. “While much of the industry has discussed in-plan retirement income solutions, few of these solutions have been implemented by DC plans. Since there has been little to entice Baby Boomers to stay in-plan, they continue to roll large balances into IRAs.”

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The research explains that without action to prevent these distributions, rollovers will continue to fuel IRA assets, furthering their significant market share of the total market, beyond 2016.  

The major addressable segments of the DC market – 401(k), 403(b) and 457 – are expected to total just more than $4 trillion in 2011. The report said 403(b) markets are growing solidly propelled by new regulations and opportunities in healthcare markets.  

Cerulli also found: 

• Rollover dollars are split 65/35 between adviser-assisted and self-directed accounts, and;

• Among advisers, DC distribution is narrowing to specialists while the amounts these groups control in terms of assets is increasing. 

DC markets are buoyed by the continually simplified process of saving for retirement with features such as automatic enrollment, auto escalation and simplified investment options such as target-date funds. On the other hand, the shift away from private defined benefit (DB) plans will continue to decrease its market share. However, increased use of liability-driven investing (LDI) strategies is putting money into motion for asset managers, which presents interesting opportunities, Cerulli said.  

For more information on the report, contact CAmarketing@cerulli.com.

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