Deals & People October 20, 2008

Touchstone Investments Announces New President

Gene L. Needles, Jr. has joined Touchstone Investments as president.
Reported by

According to a company announcement, Needles will have overall responsibility for Touchstone Investments, including the company’s business management and strategy, directing all aspects of distribution, product management, marketing, administration, advisory services and relationship management as well as acquisition activities.

Needles has 27 years of experience in the financial services industry. Most recently, he served as president and chief executive officer of AIM Distributors where his responsibilities included the oversight of all U.S. retail distribution.

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Prior to his career with Invesco AIM, Needles held positions with MetLife, State Street, and Putnam Investments.

Products October 20, 2008

SunGard Integrates Financial Planning Content into WealthStation Platform

SunGard’s WealthStation platform has been enhanced with the addition of a financial planning module for financial advisers to use to attract, service, and grow client relationships, the company said.
Reported by

The wealth management platform has been integrated with Advisys’ Back Room Technician (BRT) to provide advisers with seamless access to content on a wide range of financial planning topics.

The module helps advisers capture current client information, considering the client’s current situation and financial goals, and create personalized reports and presentations about a range of financial planning topics. Advisers can also tailor information to target certain demographic groups and use that in prospecting.

“In an increasingly competitive wealth management industry, financial advisers need a faster and easier way to simplify complex financial planning topics for their clients in order to build relationships and increase sales,’ said Blaine Maxfield, chief operating officer of SunGard’s wealth management business, in a news release.

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WealthStation’s modules, available as a single process or as an end-to-end solution, include client management, financial planning, investment management, asset allocation, data aggregation, trading and rebalancing, reporting, client access and compliance.

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