The Senate and House of Representatives pension negotiators have worked out their differences on a bill that would allow mutual funds and brokerage firms to give direct, specific investment advices to 401(k) plan participants, Investment News reports. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), long an advocate of letting the funds and firms give advice, said the negotiators in the House and Senate still have not worked out their differences on individual retirement accounts. The measure is intended to give a boost to the struggling defined-benefit pension system. Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), who introduced the Senate version of the bill, opposed direct advice from mutual funds and brokerages, claiming it would constitute a conflict of interest.
