Products April 3, 2007

AXA Distributors Launches Retirement Savings Campaign

AXA Distributors is launching a new advertising campaign in an effort to help advisers who sell annuities spur interest in retirement savings among their clients.
Reported by

The marketing campaign includes education materials, free coffee and television spots featuring an 800-pound gorilla. The television campaign will use the 800-pound gorilla, a metaphor for retirement (something that’s on everyone’s mind, but nobody talks about) featured in AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co.’s campaign to try and reach financial professionals.

AXA Distributors has developed materials to help consumers examine potential sources of retirement income, including:

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  • mutual funds,
  • individual retirement accounts,
  • pension plans,
  • Social Security, or
  • full-time or part-time employment and other options.

The adviser representatives will then work with consumers to figure out their retirement expenses and how to use financial strategies to close any gap that might exist between income and expenses.

According to a survey by AXA Distributors, less than half of U.S. workers age 55 and up have any idea how much income they will have in retirement and only 26% of people began planning for their retirement between the ages of 45-54, while 32% didn’t start planning until they were 55 or older.

To initiate conversation, AXA Distributors’ Wake Up! campaign offers to buy their annuity product representatives and their clients coffee gift cards.

Products April 3, 2007

Wisdom Tree Aims to Bring ETFs to 401(k)s

WisdomTree Investments has created a business unit focused on delivering exchange traded funds (ETFs) to the 401(k) marketplace.
Reported by
The effort will be led by industry veteran Al Shemtob, who has assumed the position of Director of Retirement Services, the company announced. Shemtob was President of BISYS Retirement Services and its predecessor firm for 17 years.
Shemtob will be helped by two other additions to the WisdomTree executive ranks. Ben Slavin, previously with Morgan Stanley Investment Management, has joined as Director of Product Development and Richard Harper, most recently a VP, Senior Portfolio Strategist at RBC Dain Rauscher and was a former ETF fixed income portfolio manager for ETF Advisors, has joined as Director of Fixed Income Strategy.
“Investors and advisers have become familiar with the many benefits that ETFs offer and are now looking to utilize them in their 401(k) plans,” said Jonathan Steinberg, CEO of WisdomTree Investments, in the news release. “The 401(k) market, with over $2.4 trillion in assets, is an untapped channel for ETF growth and we believe Wisdom Tree’s ETFs are particularly well-suited for the retirement market.’

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