Hot off the Presses
New products, highlights, announcements
Reported by PLANADVISER Staff
Diversified Investment Advisors, Inc., has enhanced its nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plan solution, Retirement Advantage, to assist plan sponsors and their advisers in meeting 409A requirements. The solution is section 409A-compliant and provides a comprehensive set of plan-reporting capabilities and an open-architecture approach to selecting funding vehicles and investment options.
PlanTools, LLC, announced the release of its Expense Analysis and Benchmarking Tool that will offer more than 10 reports, providing a comparison between plans of similar size by total plan assets and number of participants.
New York Life Retirement Plan Services unveiled a redesigned participant Web page. The company uses data already stored in its system to ensure that solutions are relevant for each participant.
TheInternal Revenue Service (IRS)unveiled the IRS Retirement Plans Navigator, to help small-business owners choose a plan, make sure the plan retains tax-qualified status, and correct a plan. The tool is available at www.retirementplans.irs.gov.
Prudential Retirement partnered with MullinTBG to enhance the Total Retirement Solutions (TRS) platform with nonqualified plan services. The combined platform includes the services of 250 specialists in nonqualified plans to consult about best practices, legislative issues, executive communication strategies, and financing of pre- and post-retirement benefit liabilities.
ING Employee Benefits announced enhancements to its proprietary enrollment software, ING Enroll, including a tailored “quick quote” function, additional automated forms, and enhanced reporting and reenrollment capabilities.
Newkirk unveiled a Roth IRA conversion packet, timed to coincide with new rules as of 2010 changing the annual income limitation for a Roth conversion. The booklet and HTML version was developed in a question-and-answer format that the company said can be distributed in person, via e-mail, or via a Web site; there is also a presentation format available.
McCready and Keene unveiled a recordkeeping platform aimed at small clients with assets less than $1.5 million. The open-architecture system includes daily valued investments offered at NAV without back-end loads, fully disclosed pricing, and 100% revenue-sharing to offset plan fees, the company said.
Transamerica Retirement Services released the Annual Retirement Plan Review, providing sponsors with a comparative industry assessment of their defined contribution plans. Using data provided by industry sources, the tool gives plan sponsors a snapshot of how their plan compares to industry standards and averages, and provides a list of research-based opportunities to improve.
InsuranceQuotes.us, an insurance marketing Web site, has unveiled an iPhone application for users to calculate their necessary retirement savings and receive quotes on insurance coverage.
TD AMERITRADE Holding Corporation unveiled an enhanced site that it said offers a more user-friendly platform, new retirement planning tools, and “content tailored to distinct life phases.” The new offering includes a Small Business Retirement portal that offers information and tools from third-party providers to guide small-business owners though the retirement process.ADVISER TOOLS
Fidelity Investments said it is waiving and reducing some custody and technology fees for independent advisers. Among the changes, Fidelity will eliminate commission on electronic equity and options trades and transfer of account fees for new account relationships established by advisers from October 1 through June 30.
Standard & Poor’s Equity Research Services has upgraded its open-end mutual fund research product, available on the S&P’s MarketScope Advisor platform, with bottom-up research about a fund’s holdings. Each entry includes a performance, risk, and cost analysis and then ranks more than 20,000 mutual funds on a 1 to 5 scale. It also added a bond research portal to its MarketScope Advisor (MSA) platform. Advisers will be able to create portfolios using the Bond Ladder Builder, and access calculators as they research various bond issues.
PAi partnered with Pensiononline.com to debut the EZ-Illustrator, a tool designed to help financial advisers determine whether their clients are a good match for a comparability profit-sharing plan.
Edward Jones’ financial advisers now have access to the John Hancock Retirement Plan Services 401(k) platform, including JH Signature, defined contribution plans, and the Guaranteed Income For Life feature.
MFS Investment Management introduced Advanced (k), a program designed to help retirement platform wholesalers and retirement advisers expand their retirement plan practice. MFS is rolling out Advanced (k) in two phases: The first phase consists of benchmarking adviser fees and services and managing strategic client relationships.
TD AMERITRADE Institutional launched the Business Evaluator, a Web-based tool aiming to help advisers transition to independence. The tool allows advisers to design a “customized action plan” by comparing business models, estimating expenses, and identifying their motivations and strengths, the firm said.
T. Rowe Price redesigned its Web site for financial intermediaries. The firm said the new site, troweprice.com/fi, offers easier navigation, using three consolidated tabs for funds, adviser resources, and news and updates. The home page features a rotating headline for quick access to insights about current issues.
The Hartford has released a new package of educational materials designed to help advisers teach clients about fixed-income diversification. The materials include a brochure, summarizing four concerns that fixed-income investors face: credit risk, interest-rate risk, inflation risk, and income generation.
The 401(k) ratings and analytics firmBrightScopelaunched a service to help advisers and consultants find plans that need their help. Advisor Central 1.0 enables advisers to search by plan design and investment criteria among more than 12,000 plan evaluations to find plan sponsor clients in need of their services.
Commonwealth Financial Network introduced a Retirement Plan Consulting program, a “vendor-agnostic,” fee-based retirement platform. The program gives advisers universal access to the retirement marketplace and enables them to offer advice to both plan sponsors and participants.
The Financial Planning Coalition—made up of the CFP Board of Standards (CFP Board), FPA, and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA)—launched a Web site to be its hub of information and dialogue for financial professionals and consumers. The site is www.FinancialPlanningCoalition.com.INVESTMENTS
The JPMorgan SmartRetirement Fund expense caps have been lowered by 15 basis points (bps) across R2 and A shares.
Putnam Investments has put absolute return strategies within the Putnam RetirementReady suite of 10 lifecycle funds. The funds will make use of varying combinations of Putnam Absolute Return Funds at different allocation levels, depending on the proximity to a target-date’s maturity.
Fidelity Investments said it would bump the asset-allocation targets in its Freedom Fund product line for international equities to 30% of total equity exposure from about 20%. In addition, the Fidelity and Fidelity Advisor Freedom Funds will invest in two new underlying funds with exposure to dedicated commodities and TIPS: Fidelity Series Commodity Strategy Fund and Fidelity Series Inflation-Protected Bond Index Fund.
The Mutual Fund Store, a network of RIAs, has unveiled its Retirement Paycheck product intended to help retirees in their distributive phase. The offering is designed to offer principal protection combined with the potential for unrestrained asset growth, and periodic replenishment of assets used for monthly income.
Prudential Annuities adjusted its annuity optional benefits, which allow investors to “lock in” the highest daily value of their annuity contract each day the market is open. Highest Daily Lifetime 6 Plus and Spousal Highest Daily Lifetime 6 Plus offer a protected withdrawal value based on 6% annual compounded growth on the highest daily account value and daily opportunities to capture greater lifetime income with a 4% to 6% income stream, depending on an investor’s age at first lifetime withdrawal.
Touchstone Investments has launched 10 new funds, each featuring multiple share classes for both retail and institutional investors. Touchstone said its fund lineup now includes U.S. equity, international equity, U.S. fixed income, international fixed income, and a variety of alternative investment funds.
American Century Investments launched a new collective investment trust (CIT) program, composed of a broad suite of 12 active investment strategies.
The Phoenix Companies, Inc., introduced Phoenix Joint Advantage Universal Life (UL), a “first-to-die” universal life insurance product that covers two lives under one policy, designed for married couples or business partners. The product pays a death benefit on the first death and includes optional riders.