Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal contained an article discussing “the widening inquiry into mutual-fund firms” which has “prompted some employers to put new restrictions on the trading activity workers can conduct in their 401(k) retirement plans.” The article–“Fund Probe Prompts 401(k) Trading Curbs“–notes that AT&T Corp. and DuPont Co. have recently adopted measures aimed at keeping employees from too rapidly trading in or out of certain funds offered in their 401(k) plans. According to the article, AT&T has levied new fees for making certain trades in some international funds, and DuPont has imposed a 15-day window for trades in two of its funds. The article also states that “[p]ension experts and the Labor Department are urging retirement plans to keep a sharp eye on how funds the plans offer may be affected by the investigations.”
Previous posts on the mutual fund scrutiny and the ERISA fiduciary issues connected with it are here and here.
USA Today also reports: “Heavy trading in 401(k)s watched.”