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Market & Economic Update: Are Things Really This Bad?
A little excerpt on the first 100 trading days of 2022 from Bespoke, my favorite market newsletter:
“While everyone knows that the U.S. equity market has performed horribly in 2022, did you know that it has actually been the second-worst first 100 trading days in a year since the five-day trading week began in late 1952? Through early trading today (5/25), the S&P 500 is down 17.3% YTD, which ranks second only to 1970 for the worst start to a year when the index declined 23.7% in the first 100 trading days. Not only that, but this year has seen the worst start on record for both the Nasdaq (since 1972) and the Russell 2000 (1979), which have declined by 27.9% and 21.4%, respectively.”
After reading that, my first thought was: Are things really that bad to warrant what, collectively, is the worst start to a year in stock market history?
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Alex Assaley Named a 2022 PLANADVISER Top Retirement Plan Adviser
AFS 401(k) Retirement Services is thrilled to publicize that our lead adviser, Alex Assaley was named a top retirement plan advisor by PLANADVISOR.
Since 2013, this designation has been awarded to the top 100 retirement plan advisers and teams based on quantitative measures such as the most plans and assets under advisement. This year, PLANADVISER made a significant change, limiting how large a team could be for consideration—eliminating national-type firms that traditionally had met the eligibility for a “Mega Team”.
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What is Your Proudest Moment?
At this year’s NAPA 401(k) Summit, the nation’s largest and most prestigious conference for retirement plan advisors and industry leaders, our Managing Principal, Alex Assaley took to the stage to give his final Presidential remarks and share a special story of one of his proudest moments as a retirement plan advisor. You can watch the live presentation below or read through the video transcript.
Alex, as the 2021-2022 President of NAPA.
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AFS 401(k) Retirement Services Honored in NAPA’s 2021 Top DC Advisor Teams List
BETHESDA, MD — AFS 401(k) Retirement Services has been named to the National Association of Plan Advisors’ list of the nation’s top defined contribution (DC) Advisor Teams with Assets under Advisement of $100 Million.
Unlike other lists, this focuses on individual firms, or what may, in a wirehouse environment, be referred to as a team, or office, and the assets under advisement related to their defined contribution (DC) practice, specifically in a single physical location. The inaugural list was published in 2017.
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VIDEO: What Does ESG Investing Mean?
Have you heard of, or considered, socially responsible – or, what the industry now calls ESG, investments? These investmentvehicles have been gaining a lot of tractin this year for focus on sustainable, socially conscious, "green" and/or ethical screens for the companies they own in their portfolio (i.e. mutual fund or ETF) and also for their ability to point of potntial financial risks that can't be identifyied by typical quarterly results. They seek to consider both financial return and specific environmental, governance, and social metrics to do help investments do well by “doing good.” In this video, I sat down with Clarice Avery of Natixis Invest Managers. We talked about all the things you should know when considering an ESG investment for your investment line-up. You can learn more at Natixis’ site and ESG101. -
VIDEO: Are HSAs the Missing Piece to Your Employees' Benefits Package?
As more organizations begin to expand their employee benefits, are Health Savings Accounts, or HSAs, a good fit for your employees? An HSA is a savings vehicle designed to assist with out-of-pocket medical expenses, but it can double as another way for your employees to save for retirement. Currently, only those enrolled in a high-deductible health insurance plan are eligible to take advantage of an HSA. Employees can use the funds to pay for qualified medical expenses such as premium payments, deductibles, copays, and prescriptions.
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VIDEO: The 4 Reasons Why You Should do an RFP
Has it been a while since you performed a comparative review of your retirement plan advisor and/or vendor? It may sound like a complicated process, but ensuring you're matched with partners who are in tune with your companies' unique culture and goals is essential.
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Trends and Innovations in Employee Benefits: Ideas You Need to Know
For the past several years, we've produced an annual Trends and Innovations in Employee Benefits report. This report compiles some of the biggest trends, ideas, and initiatives impacting organizations and companies with respect to employee benefits, engagement, and human capitol management. As we prepared for our tenth installment our team worked diligently to continue our mission of delivering fresh, forward-thinking topics with high quality ideas shared from industry leaders, practitioners, and peers.
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Alex Assaley, AIF® Named as Delegate to NAPA DC Fly-In Forum
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bethesda, MD — Alex Assaley, AIF® of AFS 401(k) Retirement Services recently participated as a delegate to the National Association of Plan Advisors’ (NAPA) Annual DC Fly-In Forum, an exclusive gathering of the nation’s leading retirement plan advisors.
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