The event is primarily of interest
to single employer individually designed defined benefit (DB) and defined
contribution (DC) plans in Cycle C, and Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section
414(d) governmental plans that file during Cycle C. It will be held February 28
at 2 p.m. Eastern time.
Donald Kieffer, IRS Employee Plans
senior tax law specialist, will discuss the list of plan changes to be used by
plan sponsors and practitioners submitting determination letter applications
during the period beginning February 1. (See “IRS
Issues 2012 Cumulative List.”)
Requests for specific matters to address may be e-mailed the IRS at ep.phoneforum@irs.gov by February
21.
Managed
volatility investment strategies are emerging as a solution for investors looking
to protect against future stock market losses, Strategic Insight’s research found.
“Managed Volatility: The Anatomy of an Investing Trend” analyzes
the mutual funds that use this innovative investment style. The research report
is from Strategic Insight, an Asset International company. The strategy seeks
to outperform the broad stock market by reducing total risk.
In less than
a decade, managed volatility assets have accelerated to $129 billion as of
September 2012. With so much new fund activity and asset accumulation, the
funds have piqued interest among asset managers, insurance companies and
distributors.
The analysis
reveals that a substantial amount of growth comes from funds converting to
managed volatility mandates. At the end of September, $61 billion, or 47% of
the total assets in managed volatility funds, came from converted portfolios.
Most of this activity has been in the variable annuity space, which also
commands the bulk of assets.
The managed
volatility trend has taken off since the financial crisis in 2008, according to
Tamiko Toland, managing director of retirement income solutions at Strategic
Insight. “These funds include a dynamic element that readjusts the investments
for periods of high volatility or market declines,” Toland said. “This kind of
strategy is directly useful to clients but is also valuable for insurance
companies providing guarantees against assets held in variable annuities.”
(Cont’d…)
Because
managed volatility funds can help insurers better manage the risk of living and
death benefits, the funds have proliferated within variable annuity funds. However,
managed volatility funds are also gaining steam among retail mutual funds.
Managed volatility mutual fund assets have grown substantially, from $967
million in the first quarter of 2006, to $21 billion at the end of the third
quarter of 2012.
While 84% of
today’s managed volatility assets are held within variable annuities, this
investment category is clearly gaining a foothold among retail mutual funds and
is likely to grow in other areas, including college savings and retirement
plans.
Strategic
Insight’s research has identified 175 funds from 32 advisers. With so many
players, there are a wide variety of approaches, all classified and identified
within the report. “The report is the first of its kind to quantify the managed
volatility opportunity and analyze the biggest players,” Toland said. “We’ve
also seen a lot of interest from mutual fund boards for analysis on this
trend.”
More
information on the report, including the table of Contents and a fact sheet, is
available here.