Page 32 - Investment Advisor May 2021

House Financial Services achieved until organizations, especially the largest investment
Committee Chairwoman managers, disclose their diversity data and policies with the
Maxine Waters, D-Calif., [Offices of Minority and Women Inclusion] OMWIs, Congress
didn’t waste time this year and the public,” they explained.
and quickly held hearings
on market volatility tied to Also in Congress, Sen. Elizabeth
GameStop and other stocks, Warren, D-Mass., now chairs
which she said threw a two Senate subcommittees —
“national spotlight on insti- the Senate Banking Committee
tutional practices by Wall Subcommittee on Economic
Street firms, and prompted Policy and the Senate Finance
discussion about the evolving role of technology and social Committee Subcommittee
media in our markets.” on Fiscal Responsibility and
Economic Growth.
Together with Rep. Joyce After taking the helm in early
Beatty, D-Ohio, chairwom- March, Warren vowed to “use these committees to hold big
an of the Subcommittee on corporations and their executives accountable and to strength-
Diversity and Inclusion (cre- en our banking, securities, and tax laws — and make sure they
ated by Waters), the commit- are enforced.” Warren also wants to end student loan debt.
tee is tasked with zeroing in In early April, Warren — along with Rep. Ayanna Pressley,
on diversity and inclusion D-Mass., and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey —
issues under its jurisdiction. called on President Joe Biden to tackle the student loan debt
In late March, Waters and crisis by using his authority under the Higher Education Act
Beatty requested that asset to cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt for each federal
managers — those with $400 student loan borrower.
billion or more in assets
under management — com- Honorable Mentions:
plete a questionnaire regard- The SEC has three female commissioners: two Democrats,
ing the firm’s diversity and inclusion data and policies from Allison Herren Lee and Caroline Crenshaw, as well as
2016 through 2020. Republican Hester Peirce. Also busy in Washington is the
“We are making progress to ensure a comprehensive under- director of investor protection for the Consumer Federation
standing of diversity and inclusion performance in the finan- of America, Barbara Roper, who stands ready to praise or
cial services industry,” the two said in a letter to firms criticize rules coming out of the SEC and other regulators.
like Charles Schwab and Fidelity. “However, this cannot be

Retirement

Financial advisors know Alicia Munnell as the director of the Munnell and her team produce some of the most in-depth
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, where research in the United States on retirement. Their focus
she leads a prolific research effort. But Munnnell also is the includes everything from the value of annuities to financial
Peter F. Drucker Professor of Management Sciences at Boston security at different ages, complex Social Security issues, the
College’s Carroll School of Management. state of different pension plans and health care challenges.
Her background is steeped in government policy. She was
a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors
(1995-1997), served as the U.S. Department of Treasury’s assis-
tant secretary for economic policy (1993-1995) and worked at
the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (1973-1993), where she Waters: Bloomberg; Warren: Bloomberg
was tapped as its senior vice president and director of research
in 1984.
In a recent interview, Munnell shared her insights on
President Biden’s Social Security plan, which she likes but
sees as “incomplete” because it doesn’t raise payroll taxes

30 INVESTMENT ADVISOR MAY 2021 | ThinkAdvisor.com