Hot off the Presses
PLAN SPONSOR & PARTICIPANT TOOLS
Benefit Consultants Group (BCG) is teaming up with Mid Atlantic Trust Company (MATC) to launch a bundled 401(k) platform offering exchange-traded funds (ETFs). BCG says the MATC solution eliminates operational challenges facing previous efforts to successfully integrate ETFs into daily valued 401(k) platforms.
Convergent Retirement Plan Solutions, LLC, launched Learning to Retire, an interactive, online learning application designed to help educate near-retirees about the upcoming transition.
ProNvest Inc. rolled out a service designed to assist plan sponsors with their fiduciary liability in offering managed accounts. Through the new service, ProNvest approves and integrates multiple investment managers or registered investment advisers (RIAs) into its managed account platform and conducts ongoing due diligence.
ijoin introduced a turnkey 401(k) enrollment solution that leads participants through a personalized decisionmaking process via mobile Web technology.
Charles Schwab & Co. launched Real Life Retirement Services, designed to answer questions about issues such as whether workers can afford to retire, their retirement expenses, when they should begin Social Security benefits, and how best to generate income during retirement.
The 401kTrainers.com team of advisers has formed with the goal of educating employees about their 401(k) retirement plans.
Recordkeeper ExpertPlan partnered with Riverton, Utah-based American Pension Services, Inc., to support self-directed retirement plans, including individual retirement accounts (IRAs). The move will enable ExpertPlan to support nontraditional investments such as closely held stocks, trust deed notes, tax liens, real property, LLCs, and promissory notes, the company says.
MassMutual’s Retirement Services Division debuted the MassMutual RetireSmart Academy, an interactive online tool for its retirement plan participants. It is accessible from the home page of The Journey, MassMutual’s participant Web site.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released a publication to help small employers understand automatic enrollment for 401(k) plans.Automatic Enrollment 401(k) Plans for Small Businesses describes an automatic enrollment 401(k) plan, how to set up the plan, management of the plan, fiduciary responsibilities, and a check list to ensure compliance.
The 403(b) Company offers a 403(b) Administrator service that can help sponsors get through IRS and DoL plan audits.
Reliance Trust Company, a division of Reliance Financial Corporation, has introduced a new 401(k) plan aimed at plan sponsors with a minimum of $25 million in plan assets. Today’s (k) features a varied investment lineup including mutual funds, low-cost target-date ETFs, and its risk-based LifeStyles asset allocation strategies.
The Principal Financial Group unveiled tools to help plans comply with new disclosure mandates for the Form 5500 and new requirements for retirement plan financial statements (FAS No. 157).
Rollover platform provider RolloverSystems Inc. published a best practices guide for plan sponsors (and their advisers), who are contemplating a 401(k) plan termination.
ADVISER TOOLS
Morningstar, Inc., has launched its latest version of Morningstar Direct, a Web-based research platform that connects institutional investment professionals to Morningstar’s investment research and data. New additions include performance attribution analysis, allowing users to quantify and analyze the impact of portfolio decisions, like sector weighting or security selection, on equity performance.
MUTUALdecision, an online source for predictive mutual fund models, launched a tool enabling investors and financial advisers to rank U.S. mutual funds based on academic research.
Pension Analytix, Inc., a marketing and analytical insights firm targeting companies that provide retirement services, has launched Acquisition Engine. The company says the service can highlight key plan sponsor wants and needs using a market-driven database solution.
Invesco Aim launched an enhanced Invesco Aim PlanForward Module 3 Benchmarking and Reviewing 401(k) Plans. According to the company, this product-neutral marketing program offers financial advisers the opportunity to provide plan sponsors with a 401(k) review process.
Smith Barney has added the PLANSPONSOR Retirement Professional (PRP) designation to the list of the firm’s approved designations for financial advisers. Offered through the PLANSPONSOR Institute, the PRP is the second designation focused on qualified retirement plans that Smith Barney has approved.
SPDR University, State Street’s educational resource for investment professionals, introduced an on-demand Webcast, “The Running of the Bears: Stay Ahead of the Stampede and Strengthen Client Relationships,” to help financial advisers retain client relationships during uncertain times.
Matrix Settlement & Clearance Services, LLC, (Matrix) expanded its Money Market Portal product, Money Fund Monitor. Developed in conjunction with iMoneyNet, a provider of money-market mutual fund information and analysis, the tool is a browser-based source for daily money fund information.
The Hartford is launching an electronic application process for its SMART529 accounts. It includes online education for advisers and resources for them to help build their businesses, according to the company.
T. Rowe Price unveiled a fund data portal for advisers and other intermediaries featuring customizable and downloadable data to the firm’s mutual funds.
SellingLTC.com, LLC— a provider of solutions for insurance sales professionals—announced the launch of LTCi Café, a new Web site for financial professionals. The company says the site includes education, sales training, industry news, and ideas designed to help producers grow and expand their long-term-care insurance business.
Convergent Retirement Plan Solutions, LLC, and Archimedes Systems, Inc., released the Roth IRA Conversion Optimizer for financial advisers—the first release on a new Roth analytics platform. The companies say the tool will assist the adviser and the consumer in determining the optimal conversion amount, based on each investor’s unique income needs and financial legacy objectives.
The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., has launched an educational campaign to show financial advisers how to use clients’ Form 5500 to help them identify potential problems with their 401(k) plans. A brochure takes advisers through each step necessary to complete Form 5500 and provides tips for improving existing plans, enhancing service, and educating participants.
MassMutual’s Retirement Services Division has published a white paper, “The Successful Retirement Advisor Part II: Best Practices and Key Drivers of Success,” exploring factors that help make retirement advisers successful, and the correlation between adviser success and plan sponsor satisfaction.
The American College says the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) designation will require a total of nine college-level courses for students starting the program on or after October 1, 2009. The revised curriculum adds the further requirement of a comprehensive case analysis course.
AdviceAmerica announced the release of ClientVision. It combines the “familiarity and functionality” of Microsoft Outlook with the capability to manage and view clients’ portfolios, goals, and financial documents, the company says. As a hosted solution, ClientVision works with Office 2007 and Internet Explorer.
Automated Compliance Solutions (ACS) says its new compliance program management software for broker/dealers can give smaller broker/dealers bigger tools. The compliance program management service includes document management, workflow with embedded instructions, best-practice compliance templates, e-mail alerts, and sophisticated security, the company says.
The American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) has begun offering education, including a new credential and certificate program, for professionals who specialize in the tax-exempt and governmental retirement plan market. The Tax-Exempt and Governmental Plan Consultant (TGPC) credential focuses on the technical knowledge and consulting skills required for those who work on retirement plans for tax-exempt organizations.
INVESTMENT BENCHMARKING
Investment manager PIMCO has introduced the PIMCO Global Advantage Bond Index (GLADI), which covers a broad set of markets. PIMCO says it uses more robust construction approaches than many other indexes.
Morningstar, Inc., announced plans to provide what it calls “investor-centric, analyst-driven qualitative research and ratings’ for European and Asian funds. The new ratings and accompanying analyst research reports complement the quantitative Morningstar Rating for funds (star rating) to help provide a tool to compare, screen, and research funds.
Morningstar, Inc., has launched a family of asset allocation indexes designed to benchmark target-date and target-risk investment products. The Morningstar Lifetime Allocation Index series consists of 13 target-date indexes, each of which is available in three risk profiles—aggressive, moderate, and conservative.
INVESTMENTS
Calvert launched the Calvert Government Fund, which seeks to provide a high level of current income while preserving capital, primarily through investment in debt securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities, according to the firm. It also may invest in futures contracts related to U.S. Government securities.
T. Rowe Price expanded its fixed-income investment offerings by launching the Strategic Income Fund. The new offering seeks high income and some capital appreciation by investing in as many as 12 asset classes, including both U.S. and non-U.S. securities. At least 80% of its net assets will be invested in income-producing securities or other income-producing investments.
Putnam Investments launched a suite of target absolute return mutual funds designed to seek annualized total returns of 1%, 3%, 5%, or 7% above those of Treasury bills over three years or more. Putnam says the new offerings include four funds with specific targets, each geared to meet different investor needs and each investing in a different mix of assets.
Ibbotson Associates is now offering its custom target maturity portfolio construction service, previously only available in the larger market, to financial institutions serving defined contribution plans of all sizes. Ibbotson says it creates customized target maturity products using investment options already in the plan, selecting an appropriate glide path based on several factors.
The Vanguard Group has introduced a bond index fund for use by Vanguard funds, including Vanguard’s Target Retirement and LifeStrategy funds, which invest in other Vanguard offerings. The company says Vanguard Total Bond Market II Index Fund seeks to track the performance of the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index.
Van Kampen Funds Inc., a subsidiary of Van Kampen Investments Inc., announced the launch of the Van Kampen Global Tactical Asset Allocation (GTAA) Fund. The fund has been designed to invest in traditional and nontraditional asset classes around the world and to respond to rapidly changing market conditions.
PIMCO has launched the PIMCO Global Advantage Strategy Bond Fund, “designed to help fixed-income investors seize opportunities created by dramatic shifts in the global economy,” the company says. The fund may invest in a broad range of fixed-income instruments and includes as one of its benchmarks the recently launched PIMCO Global Advantage Bond Index (GLADI).
Illustration by Tory Sica