Hot Off the Presses

To help plan sponsors assist their employees who are nearing or in retirement, Cowden Associates created ComprehensiveCast, a service to assist employers with guiding current and future retirees through the complicated world of retiree medical and Social Security optimization strategies.

Deloitte Consulting and Penbridge Advisors are expanding a strategic partnership established in 2014 to bring new defined benefit (DB) plan support services to market. According to the firms, the expanded Penbridge and Deloitte alliance will focus on helping defined benefit plan sponsors make balanced, well-informed decisions, whether those involve plan maintenance or pension risk transfer (PRT).

Financial wellness provider Four Seasons Financial Education (FSFE) introduced PlanWell, a voluntary option, to its corporate financial wellness programs. According to FSFE, this offering is the first of its kind in the U.S. and gives employers an alternative to traditional programs for which plan sponsors generally cover the cost.

ABG Retirement Plan Services created LifetimeIncome-Center.com, a resource for answering critical retirement planning questions such as: What is my life expectancy? Will I run out of money? When should I start Social Security payments? And, how would an annuity help me? Participants can complete a brief questionnaire or answer more detailed questions about health and lifestyle issues to receive a longevity analysis.

John Hancock Retirement Plan Services integrated LPL Financial’s Employee Advice Solution into its recordkeeping platform. The Web-based advice tool asks employees about their financial holdings. Based on that information, participants can receive personalized retirement advice or manage their accounts on their own. The tool also enables them to engage with an adviser directly—either face to face, online or over the phone.

Prudential Financial issued a new white paper to help families figure out how to pay for college education. Titled “Paying for College: A Practical Guide for Families,” it emphasizes seeking out all potential sources of financial aid, rather than heavily relying on student loans, which Prudential says can strangle a family’s finances.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch introduced a longevity training program for human resources (HR) and benefit plan professionals. Developed in partnership with the University of Southern California’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Longevity Training Program is designed to drive greater awareness and understanding of the evolving needs of the nation’s aging population and their families.

Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors launched Check Mate, a retirement income planning solution designed to assist defined contribution (DC) plan participants with establishing a lifetime income.

HealthView Services’ new HealthView Explorer application (app) is designed to help advisers spark conversations with participants about health care costs in retirement. The app utilizes a methodology reviewed by advisers and physicians, drawing upon data from 50 million health care cases to project health care costs by age and state for individuals retiring at 65.

Cambridge Investment Research developed a new set of online retirement tools and knowledge resources for its advisers, delivered via the Cambridge Retirement Center. The center’s disclosure and data aggregation tool delivers a customized disclosure process while also forming a data foundation with periodic data feeds from 50 different recordkeepers. The firm has also developed “key integrations with premium service vendors.”

Envestnet Retirement Solutions (ERS) introduced the ERS Fund Strategist Network, a roster of institutional-grade and boutique strategic and dynamic fund strategists. The platform gives retirement plan advisers access to quality unitized fund strategist portfolios, which are monitored by ERS.

Investment advisers may leverage the SmartVision Analytics solution from eVestment to have “smarter, more in-depth and more complete” client conversations. The cloud-based solution gives advisers a richer picture of trends in the institutional investment world, including insights into the latest behaviors of pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds and foundations, according to eVestment.

Hartford Funds launched a series of videos to educate financial advisers about issues important to clients today. The first, “The New Role of the Financial Adviser,” explores how advisers can help investors holistically by understanding their individual goals. Others include: “Engaging the Boomer Generation,” which addresses how Baby Boomers should plan and invest for retirement, and “The Forgotten 401(k),” which discusses how advisers should underscore the importance of investing for retirement.

Smarsh, an archiving provider, introduced Advisor Launchpad, a digital marketing tool for financial advisers. Smarsh says advisers need the tool because many rely on outdated marketing practices to grow their business. Adviser Launchpad is centered around a website; advisers may select from numerous templates or use a custom option. Smarsh also provides blog and targeted content; for those advisers who want original content, the company offers copywriting services.

Transamerica Retirement Solutions partnered with the National Financial Educators Council (NFEC) to create the Transamerica Financial Educators Academy, an online program that enables people to become Certified Financial Education Instructors (CFEIs). The program is aimed at both retirement plan advisers and sponsors. To attain this certification, participants need to complete 11 courses, covering: financial psychology; savings, budgeting and account management; credit, debt and loans; investing; retirement preparedness; and methods to effectively discuss money matters with young people.

Fidelity Investments launched Third-Party Fiduciary Services, a program to help retirement plan advisers and sponsors with the selection and monitoring of investments. Users have a choice of three support providers—Mesirow Financial, Morningstar Associates and Wilshire Associates—through the Fidelity program.

361 Capital hired Daniel Cascarano as vice president of national accounts and institutional sales. In this role, he will cultivate key account relationships across institutional and intermediary channels.

Fiduciary Investment Advisors LLC (FIA) hired Antonio Duarte as a consultant to focus on defined contribution (DC) retirement plans, both corporate and tax-exempt.

Stadion Money Management announced the hire of Chris Barrett as a regional vice president, with responsibility for retirement sales in New England and Northern New Jersey.

Commonwealth Financial Network, a privately held independent broker/dealer (B/D) and registered investment adviser (RIA), added Vaughn Wealth of Orlando, Florida, to its network of independent financial advisers.

Henry Henkel joined Cafaro Greenleaf as director of business development.

Lockton opened a new retirement practice in its Philadelphia office, with Deana Calvelli as vice president of retirement services for the firm’s Northeast region.