Products April 18, 2007

Pershing Offers RIAs New Practice Management Program

Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC has launched a new program for independent registered investment advisers (RIAs) offering support in the area of practice management, including planning and marketing.
Reported by
Through the program, Ideas Without Limits, Pershing Advisor Solutions, a division of The Bank of New York Company, Inc., meets with RIA firms one-on-one, then developing and implementing customized solutions to help advisers maximize the growth and profitability of their practices. Issues on which Pershing might provide expertise include: planning for a merger, acquisition or transition, maximizing operational efficiency, and mitigating risk while staying abreast of the rapidly changing regulatory environment.
RIAs have access to a broad array of strategic business and practice management solutions, which range from sophisticated marketing and business consulting to exclusive regional events and educational tools and that leverage experts from both Pershing Advisor Solutions and industry-leading consulting firms, Pershing announced.
Through Ideas Without Limits, advisers get access to: business reviews with Pershing professionals and industry experts; studies that focus on emerging industry trends; workshops during which RIAs get access to industry consultants; client acquisition and retention strategies; and a program called ValueAlliance, which leverages preferred rates and volume discounts on a wide array of third-party products and services, from office services to financial planning software and E&O insurance.
The program was launched as part of a series of eight regional workshops that focused on a recent study by Pershing Advisor Solutions called “Real Deals: Definitive Information on Mergers & Acquisitions for Advisors.’ Attendees at the workshops gained information about advisory firm M&A and an understanding of the real value of their RIA practices, Pershing reported.
For a copy of the Real Deals study or to learn more about Ideas Without Limits, call Pershing Advisor Solutions at (800) 445-4467 or visit www.pershingadvisorsolutions.com.
Data & Research April 18, 2007

Sponsors Concerned About Employees’ Retirement Preparedness

Concerned that employees are not paying attention to their retirement savings, 96% of U.S. employers say their top priority is encouraging employees to take more responsibility.
Reported by
Employers said that part of the reason employees are not saving enough is because they either lack the tools needed to plan for a secure retirement or don’t take advantage of the tools available to them. Therefore, in order to help employees take control of saving for retirement, nearly two-thirds of employers will make major changes to their plan design and communications by 2008 to try to get workers more engaged in retirement savings, according to the survey results.
Also ranking at the top of employers’ list of concerns was making retirement benefits competitive (88%); providing income adequacy for workers’ retirement (80%); and meeting their desired retirement cost level (56%), according to a survey of 255 companies by Buck Consultants,
Although providing income adequacy is a priority for a majority of the companies surveyed, only 28% of them actually monitor employee savings and investment patterns to determine if they are investing in a way that facilitates retirement adequacy. Similar trends are seen with regard to offering investment advice to plan participants, with 29% currently offering the feature and 57% of those who do not are looking at doing so in the near future.
PPA Effects
The provisions of the Pension Protection Act that employers say have the greatest impact on their defined contribution plans are the removal of the sunset provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (45.9%); investment advice allowance (41.2%); and automatic enrollment (40.7%).
About a quarter (26%) of respondents currently incorporate an automatic enrollment provision into some or all of their retirement programs, and half of those that don’t use auto enrollment are considering doing so within in the next two years.
Regarding investment selection, the survey found that lifecycle funds were the most popular features in defined contribution plans (55%), followed by indexed options beyond the S&P 500 fund (47.1%), investment advice (42.3%) and employer securities (36.6%).
The survey is available for $250 from Buck’s Global Survey Resources at 1.800.887.0509.

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