ICI Members Are Monitoring the New Coronavirus Outbreak

By Peter Salmon

January 31, 2020

Earlier this week, ICI’s Industry Operations Department surveyed members of the Institute’s Technology Committee to better understand the measures being taken by ICI members to protect their employees and maintain business continuity in the face of the new coronavirus outbreak. The committee is made up of 102 firms, and includes both large and small US-based fund firms, some with international operations.

What follows is a sample of the results:

50 percent of the respondents have at least one office in Asia
Almost 50 percent have issued a travel advisory (“increased caution” level) to Asia
Almost 25 percent have issued a travel ban to Asia
Most travel advisories and bans are directed at mainland China
More than one-third of respondents have instituted “home quarantine” for employees who have traveled to mainland China
More than half of the respondents are distributing extra hand sanitizers, surgical masks, or N95 masks to employees
Respondents are monitoring a variety of websites that track updates to the coronavirus outbreak, including the Centers for Disease Control, Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and the World Health Organization

ICI plans to conduct further surveys as the outbreak continues.

Peter Salmon is ICI’s senior director of operations and technology.

Permalink: https://www.ici.org/viewpoints/20_view_coronavirus

TOPICS: Global International Operations and Technology

Investing Basics: Diversification

By Christina Kilroy

January 30, 2020

Eggs play a starring role in diversification’s ubiquitous analogy—one we used in the Investing Road Trip©—and for good reason. If you drop a basket holding all your eggs, you’ll be out a lot of eggs. Spreading your eggs across several baskets is a good defense against the risks of exposing all your assets to the same risk.

But perhaps we should also make the point that eggs shouldn’t be the only food in your basket. They may be high in protein, but your body needs a mix of nutrients for good health. Similarly, with investing, a better goal is to build a balanced “diet” of asset classes across industries, geographic areas, and types of securities....

Proxy Proposals Worth Supporting

By Matt Thornton

January 29, 2020

The SEC can save millions of dollars for registered fund shareholders, while maintaining investor protections, by reforming the fund proxy system. The system, which funds use to solicit votes from their shareholders, poses significant challenges and costs to funds and their investors. A new report by the Investment Company Institute points to concrete regulatory actions that would improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the fund proxy system…

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