During the fourth quarter of 2019, 23 ERISA-related lawsuits were filed and/or updated. Each event represents the involved parties either reaching a settlement, filing an appeal or a court decision was made. The parties involved in the ERISA lawsuits in the fourth quarter included two insurance companies, three health-care-related firms, three universities, five financial firms, and prominent companies such as Intel Corporation and IBM.

Fifteen money management deals took place in the fourth quarter of 2019, a 15% increase from the previous quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2018, there were 25 transactions. Assets under management involved in the transactions totaled $1.36 trillion, up 333% from $313 billion in the previous quarter and an increase of 74% from the same period a year ago.

Search activity for the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased 22.1% from the prior quarter and declined 44.7% from the fourth quarter of 2018. Hiring activity increased 31.2% from the previous quarter to $58.54 billion. The number of hires increased 0.2% for the quarter and decreased 3.2% from the same period a year ago.

The 2019 Pensions & Investments money manager data, with an as of date of Dec. 31, 2018, are now live in the P&I Research Center.