"Elizabeth Richardson" <erichktn[at]worldnet.att.net> writes:
- quote -

I don't have her older post handy, but from this current one,
it wasn't obvious that she worked for JH, but rather that
her 401k fund was invested in a JH fund.

Either way, the money in the 401k is safe inasmuch as
her ownership of whatever investment she holds in the
401k is not subject to creditors of JH. As to what the
fund itself holds, those assets themselves may be risky,
but if it's a decent and diversified portfolio, that
shouldn't be a problem either.

If her 401k was invested in her employer's stock (a la Enron),
then of course, that portion of her 401k investments are
very risky. Not that creditors would take her 401k,
but that the contents itself - the stock - may become
worthless. That's why one ought hold a minimum of one's
employer stock in a 401k. And has nothing to do with
whether one ought to avoid investing in funds managed
by your employer (if your employer manages funds) in
your 401k.

Perhaps the OP will pipe up and clarify exactly what
her situation is and what, specifically, she's worried
about.

[I just dug up her older post and it asks what happens
if her employer goes bankrupt. The answer, as before,
remains - no - assets in the 401k are separate and
safe from your employer's creditors. The only thing
specifically in danger there is if you hold your
employer's stock itself in the 401k. Nobody will take
the stock away, it just may become worthless. At
worst, you may have a hard time accessing your account
for a while while management gets straightened out
and administration is passed along to someone else]


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Elizabeth Richardson wrote:
- quote -

Ok, now that I sorted on 'sender' I see the old threads. She was no
longer with JF, and asked about rolling to an IRA. For a self-described
nervous investor, she left herself in a 401(k) when an IRA holding
government notes/bonds would have been better for her risk tolerance.

While I agree that one needs to view the fund manager's stock as
distinct from the funds themselves, I still need to be cautious with any
fund using the words 'fixed income'.

Joe

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"joetaxpayer" <joetaxpayer[at]nospam.com> wrote in message
news:Gtudnb0Ugu_nf0LanZ2dnUVZ_h-
- quote -

Joe, her fear is whether or not JH will go belly-up. She is an employee of
JH. While I understand that things in the fixed income market have changed
in the past year, her fears are the same as a year ago. She works for JH and
somehow she is being made to feel, as an employee, that the company is not
doing as well as their financial reports indicate. My response to this
particular poster is not original: We have nothing to fear but fear itself.

Elizabeth Richardson

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Elizabeth Richardson wrote:

- quote -

Elizabeth, 'fixed income' is too generic for me to be comfortable with
your response. Given the events of the last few months, I'd not offer
any confidence level without knowing the make up of that fund.
So far, I am unable to find that detail, and surmise that this fund is
an institutional fund sold to 401(k) clients.
Joe

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"Jane" <googlemail2003[at]yahoo.com> wrote in message

- quote -

You asked this same question in March 2007. The consensus as that time was
that you are in no danger. Have things changed that you know about?

Elizabeth Richardson

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PeterL wrote:

- quote -

The way you phrase it, no. If an investment house is found to have
stuffed CMOs (mortgage backed debt) into money market funds to juice
their returns, if the funds take a huge hit the ripple effect may take
down the firm. So we are back to the name of the fund to understand its
prospectus and confirm its contents. If JF has a fund consisting of
nothing but treasuries (for example), JF can very well go under and that
fund is still fine. Not to pick your syntax (the if/then statement you
offer) but we need to be clear why they went under before commenting on
the safety of the funds they manage.

Joe
www.blog.joetaxpayer.com

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On Mar 17, 4:04*pm, "Tab Hunter" <t...[at]momo.co.uk> wrote:
- quote -


I don't think it really matter what the name of the fund is. I think
the general question is, for funds that's managed by a company (John
Hancock, Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab, whatever), the OP's question is,
if the management company goes belly up, is the money invested in that
fund safe.

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Jane wrote:
- quote -

identify the fund name or names

is it one of these:
http://www.jhfunds.com/Fund/PriceTab...Type=ClosedEnd

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Jane <googlemail2003[at]yahoo.com> writes:

- quote -

You have several entities involved here.
First off, your employer (and those who have a claim on
your employer's assets) have no claim on the assets in
the 401k.
Second, the administrator of the 401k doesn't either.
Third, the funds the 401k are invested in are (generally)
share classes of mutual funds. A mutual fund is a distinct
corporation - separate from both the manager of the fund
and the parent company which sponsored the creation of the
fund. If SomeFundX is a fund offered by SomeFundCompany
and subadvised (managed) by SomeManagerCompany, both
SomeFundCompany and SomeManagerCompany could go under
completely and the assets held by SomeFundX itself are
untouched. In general, at worst, some other company
would take over the responsibilities in managing the
assets and another company may take over other duties
(ie. acting as transfer agent), perhaps ultimately
merging the assets into some other fund to simplify
matters (in which case, your SomeFundX shares may be
swapped for SomeOtherFundX shares).

Your assets are generally as safe as whatever the fund
itself - internally - is invested in. Which isn't to
say that you can't lose money - but that'd generally be
due to the assets inside the fund stinking (ie. suppose
your fund held Bear Sterns bonds...), not due to the
management company (or your employer, or your plan's
administrator) going under. At least with respect to
a typical 401k invested in institutional class shares of
typical mutual funds.


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On Mar 17, 12:20*pm, Jane <googlemail2...[at]yahoo.com> wrote:
- quote -


Diversify.

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Jane wrote:

- quote -

The question is this, what is it invested in? And you may have a tough
time getting an answer to that. Fixed income may include mortgage based
products that are subject to the current market issues, although I
believe if there were any exposure, you'd have seen some price impact
already. You need to get more details as a search for "John Hancock"
"Fixed Income Fund" yields nothing for me. It may be a fund created for
your 401(k).

To answer the second half of your question, JH can go down the tubes and
your money may be safe if the assets within the fund are safe. A good
fund inside a failing investment house can survive unscathed.

JOE
www.blog.joetaxpayer.com

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Jane <googlemail2003[at]yahoo.com> writes:

- quote -

Can't answer without more information on exactly that the investment
is.

Is it a mutual fund that JH manages? If so, then JH going down
the tubes won't affect things, since the fund is a legally-separate
entity than JH.

On the other hand, if it is actually something backed by JH itself,
then yes, your money could be at risk if JH takes the dirt nap.

--
Rich Carreiro rlc-news[at]rlcarr.com

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90% of our savings is in a 401k. A very large portion is in the "John
Hancock Fixed Income Fund". Is there any protection for this money?
I'm not talking about protection against a drop in the interest rate,
I mean if JH goes down the tubes does our money go with it?

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