Companies face pension-plan shortfalls
Private employers that still offer traditional pension plans are getting a big shock as they assess how much more it will
cost to shoulder retirement obligations.
Investing
Articles
Government shouldn’t bail out free market system problems
Since 1913, there has been a growing reluctance from our political leaders to allow financial setbacks in our nation to occur
in banking, and that’s been a huge mistake.
Saving our way deeper into a hole
A recent article in The Economist predicts a deep recession next year if we Americans abandon our spendthrift
ways and swing back to a savings lifestyle. What other nation, the magazine wonders, would buy enough things
to keep…
Fed’s TARP changes adding to anxieties
Experts with the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the government’s financial bailout program, are struggling to figure out how
best to relieve America’s financial mess.
Market plunge makes investments in good firms a bargain
The stock market rout that began in September and picked up steam in October has taken some quality companies to prices that
are the cheapest they have been in decades.
Plan trustees under increasing scrutiny
Times have changed and now plan trustees must ask themselves, "Am I wiling to take the chair" and defend
my actions,
or lack thereof, in a court of law?
Reasons not to retire
Plenty of people plan to work until at least age 67, when eligibility for full Social Security benefits
kicks in, a new study shows. And itâ??s not just for the money.
Many say remaining in the workplace will help them…
VC firm raises $116M for second fund after knocking first one out of park
Thanks to hefty 35-percent gross returns on its $60 million first fund, locally based Centerfield Capital Partners LP has
raised nearly twice as much for its second. This month, the venture capital firm closed on $116 million from a variety of
investors. As before, Centerfield’s 50 limited partners include major Hoosier institutions. But this time, numerous big banks,
insurance companies and pension funds from outside state lines were also investors.
Do you demand a 401(k)?
Corporations are boosting 401(k) plans even as they abandon traditional pension plans.
Workers are getting automatic enrollment, more investment options and greater contributions from employers.
Employees want 401(k)s, and theyâ??re good for business, companies say. In fact, companies without 401(k)s…
Boone incomes edging Hamilton
Hamilton County is where the wealth is, followed by Boone County, right?
Not necessarily, anymore.
The average person in Boone County now makes more money than the average person next door in Hamilton County.
In an upcoming column in IBJ, Morton Marcus, who…
The merits of earthquake coverage
Everyone has a story to tell today about this morningâ??s earthquake, which came from West Salem, Ill., and
measured 5.4 on the Richter scale. People were awakened. Things moved.
This quake was a piker compared to the devastation the…
University foundations and tuition
College and university foundations have been raking in the dollars in the past few years due to big investment
returns. Millions of dollars have flowed in.
As IBJ reporter Tracy Donhardt wrote in this weekendâ??s paper, critics say more of…
Do you feel poorer?
Inflation is speeding up and wage growth is slowing down, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said this
morning.
Blame rising oil prices for the inflation and the slowing economy for the sluggish wage growth, says the
Economic Policy Institute, a…
Seeking your take on the markets
You IBJ readers are a wealthy lot. Our latest survey, taken in September of last year, shows that you had
a $170,700 median household income and the median value of your investments came to $679,700.
Three of four had corporate stocks…
Mortgages are getting cheap
Mortgage rates are falling. This week, rates on 30-year mortgages slipped below 6 percent for the first time
in more than two years.
Are the cheaper rates putting you in a mood to refinance or step up to that house youâ??ve…
Rash of deals saves Gazelle venture-capital fund
Back in 1999, investors in Gazelle TechVentures expected a sprint to spectacular profits. Instead, they got a marathon slog.
According to Gazelle Chairman and largest investor Scott Jones, it was like training for a race on a sunny day, then running
it through a blizzard.
Buyout firm lands $202M infusion
Locally based Hammond Kennedy Whitney & Co. closed on $202 million in new capital this month, doubling its size. Its resources
have increased, but HKW’s investment philosophy is unchanged. It continues to buy small and midsize specialty manufacturing
companies, infuse them with cash and management expertise, then patiently wait for them to grow.
Knall accepts suspension in unusual SEC case
Newly public records suggest that securities investigators had far from an airtight insider-trading case against David Knall,
the star Indianapolis investment broker who nonetheless agreed to settle the 3-year-old inquiry by agreeing to a one-year
suspension. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the pact Dec. 4. In addition to consenting to the suspension,
Knall, a managing partner of Stifel Nicolaus & Co., agreed to pay $123,865.
Butler class to invest university endowment money
When a Butler University finance class starts investing in the stock market this fall, it won’t be Monopoly money that’s on
the line. In a three-year pilot program that is unique for a school of Butler’s size, a group of senior finance students will
use $1 million from the university’s endowment fund to invest.
City Securities buys lender in bid to reach new markets
City Securities Corp., one of the largest investment firms based in Indiana, has purchased Columbus, Ohio-based ReCasa Financial Group LLC, a specialty lender focused on rehabs of dilapidated houses.