Hot Off the Presses
Participant and Sponsor Tools
To help plan sponsors with fiduciary duties and day-to-day administrative tasks, BB&T Retirement and Institutional Services has created 3(16) Alliance Services. Through this program, the company will authorize and process participant loans and distributions for its 3(16) Alliance Solution clients, as well as determine the validity of qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) submissions.
Blue Prairie Group is partnering with the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA) to provide an online fiduciary training program for clients impacted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The PSCA online fiduciary training program provides a certificate of completion for fiduciaries who work through a series of modules and pass corresponding tests.
A set of consumer-facing tools and a white paper from HealthView Services aim to help people incorporate health care costs into retirement planning. The tools give consumers a better way to understand what their health care costs might be in retirement, as well as long-term care costs and future retirement savings, the company says. After they supply basic information—such as age, gender, health status and location—users receive a report that details average costs for people with similar circumstances.
MFP Strategies has introduced PlanQuest Solution, a strategy by which a team of retirement plan specialists works with clients to customize and deliver consulting services that speak to their needs and plan goals. The solution addresses fiduciaries, sponsors and participants, with the aim of improving retirement plan outcomes. Specifically, PlanQuest assists fiduciaries with decisionmaking, boosts the confidence of sponsors in knowing their plan is managed properly and enables participants to better prepare for retirement, MFP says.
Retirement plan administrator Fifth Third Bank announced the availability of financial guru Dave Ramsey’s new SmartDollar financial wellness program for its clients’ retirement plan participants.
Vanguard’s new tool, My Plan Manager, is designed to make retirement plan sponsors’ plan data more accessible and actionable so they can help participants reach their retirement goals. The first capabilities will include a deepened set of employee information, as well as a list builder and expanded reporting functions that let plan sponsors easily target employee segments based on selected criteria. By the middle of this year, Vanguard will add data insight and visualization capabilities, an administration center and new transaction functionality, as well as further enhancements to the first release.
Investments
Hueler Companies has expanded its Income Solutions platform services to include qualified longevity annuity contracts (QLACs).
Legg Mason’s new credit collective investment fund (CIF), sub-advised by Western Asset, is designed to allow eligible retirement plans the efficiency and flexibility to better align assets with their liabilities. Under normal circumstances, the fund generally invests in a diverse portfolio composed primarily of investment-grade credit bonds, but it may also make other opportunistic investments, including limited allocations to high-yield, emerging-market and mortgage-backed securities.
A product released by Natixis Global Asset Management addresses individual investors’ worries about the costs associated with living longer. The Natixis ASG Retirement Spending Accounts have the ability to invest retirees’ assets, with the goal of providing an annual income to fund short- and long-term expenses. The accounts start with a conservative asset allocation, then increase to riskier assets including equities and alternatives for a period of time, and eventually decrease risk as investors shift toward plan finalization.
Russell Investments’ new Multi-Strategy Income Fund seeks to balance the needs to generate income today and in the future by investing across a set of asset classes with both income and growth potential, using a team of specialist money managers and strategies.
Adviser Tools
The Defined Contribution Real Estate Council (DCREC) has launched a podcast series aimed at educating advisers about the potential benefits and risks of using commercial real estate investments. The first two installments are available now and feature David Skinner, portfolio manager and head of the defined contribution (DC) practice at Prudential Real Estate Investors and a former co-president of DCREC.
Empower introduced the Empower Institute to provide research and discussion about a range of critical issues and challenges related to retirement savings, guaranteed income and investing. As the company’s research arm, it will examine investment theories, retirement strategies and assumptions, and will suggest changes that can achieve better outcomes for companies, institutions, retirement plan sponsors, investment advisers and individual investors. The institute will publish research and hold seminars and other educational events.
Finance Logix formed a partnership with Morningstar Inc. to integrate products from both companies, eliminating the need for advisers to manually import data in order to show clients their current financial situation and progress toward their goals. The deal incorporates the Finance Logix platform, a customized, end-to-end financial planning and client management solution, with Morningstar Office, a research and practice management system for financial advisers.
Revzon Consulting Group unveiled a 401(k) for small-company registered investment advisers (RIAs): the EZ K Plan, a full-service, one-stop 401(k) plan package.
Charles Schwab launched an automated investment advisory service, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, aimed at simplifying client portfolio maintenance. According to the firm, the new portfolio rebalancing approach uses “sophisticated computer algorithms to build, monitor and rebalance diversified portfolios based on an investor’s stated goals, time horizon and risk tolerance.”
Executive Moves
Charles P. Nelson is now retirement chief executive at Voya. In this role, he will oversee tax-exempt and corporate markets, as well as retail wealth management, which comprise the company’s workplace and individual retirement businesses, including 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans, and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Most recently, Nelson, a 30-year veteran of the industry, was executive vice president, retirement services, at Empower Retirement.
American Century Investments named Adam Sokolic as senior vice president, retirement strategy and services, a newly established role. Sokolic, who joins from LPL Financial, will work across the firm to evaluate and optimize investing approaches to meet the needs of the evolving retirement market.
Gary Crane has been named senior consultant and service team leader at Cafaro Greenleaf, which provides investment advisory and plan consulting services. Crane has more than 30 years of experience in retirement planning and financial services.
International law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP has named Elizabeth Deckman partner in the benefits and compensation group of its Seattle office. Deckman’s practice focuses on advising companies regarding employee benefits and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). She was previously a partner at the Seattle office of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.