Leading US Retirees 'Like Lambs to the Slaughter,' Trump Labor Dept. Quietly Offers Up 401k Plans to
Leading US Retirees 'Like Lambs to the Slaughter,' Trump Labor Dept. Quietly Offers Up 401k Plans to Private Equity
Published on
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
by Common Dreams
With the American public's attention consumed by the Covid-19 pandemic and mass protests against police brutality, the U.S. Labor Department earlier this month quietly gave corporate sponsors of retirement plans something they've been agitating over for years: a government green light to invest workers' savings into funds managed by notoriously predatory private equity firms.
The move, announced on June 3 by Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, allows large managers of 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) to put workers' retirement savings into private equity investments that offer the possibility of huge returns—and devastating losses.
Scalia released the guidance in response to a request for clarification of the Trump administration's policy by Partners Group and Pantheon Ventures, private equity firms that collectively manage more than $140 billion in assets. The labor secretary presented the guidance as an effort to "level the playing field for ordinary investors."
Eileen Appelbaum, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), warned in an article published by Common Dreams on June 7 that "investing retirement savings in private equity exposes ordinary retirees to high risk."
More:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/16/leading-us-retirees-lambs-slaughter-trump-labor-dept-quietly-offers-401k-plans
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