Hot off the Presses
PLAN SPONSOR & PARTICIPANT TOOLS
Smith Barney launched the Plan Performance Report Card, a tool to illustrate a plan’s relative success and improvement. The tool generates a one-page summary showing changes in participation rates, deferral rates, and asset diversification, along with industry benchmarks.
The Financial Regulatory Authority (FINRA) launched a series of investor podcasts that the agency says “provide clear, unbiased information on a variety of financial issues in an easily accessible format.’ The podcasts can be downloaded at www.finra.org or on iTunes.
David K. Young Consulting, LLC, developed a 403(b) Action Plan Checklist to help school districts, universities, and other nonprofits.
CDM Retirement Consultants, Inc., a provider of open-architecture retirement solutions, announced its new 403(b) product capabilities. The service package includes: plan documents, recordkeeping administration, and an open-architecture investment platform.
Efficient Market Advisors, LLC (EMA), an exchange-traded fund (ETF) separate account manager, launched what it says is the first 403(b) program offering professionally managed portfolios of ETFs.
Benefit Consultants Group launched a Web site (www.lumpsumdistribution.com) designed to connect employees with qualified financial professionals as well as provide an efficient means to take care of the distribution or rollover process.
A screening tool from IW Financial enables users to screen for stocks that fit the mold of so-called socially responsible investing (SRI). The SRI Stock Screener is available for free on The Big Money (www.thebigmoney.com), a new financial news site from online magazine Slate.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) unveiled an online tool for plan sponsors and administrators it says will make paying online civil penalties for delinquent filings of annual reports easier. Users now can calculate the amount of civil penalties and pay those penalties online with a credit or debit card as an alternative to paying by check.
OppenheimerFunds, Inc. Retirement Services announced changes to its Pinnacle and Record(k)eeper Pro retirement programs. OppenheimerFunds says the enhancements eliminate installation fees and reduce proprietary fund requirements for certain plans. Pinnacle and Record(k)eeper Pro installation fees have been eliminated for all plans with at least $3 million in total assets.
T. Rowe Price introduced a retirement planning tool on its Web site that calculates a projected monthly income stream throughout retirement for those in any phase of retirement planning. The Retirement Income Calculator is available at www.troweprice.com/ric.
ExpertPlan announced the addition of defined benefit plans to its existing suite of retirement products. A new plan, ExpertPlan OnePersonPlus, is designed for sole proprietorships and micro-market businesses (one to five employees) seeking to contribute $100,000 or more of pre-tax income and take advantage of significant tax savings.
RolloverSystems Inc. (RSI), a rollover management service provider, announced a services suite that it says will help advisers and plan sponsors terminate 401(k) plans.
MetLife launched an online Income Annuities Guide. The tool seeks to demonstrate how a retirement portfolio including an income annuity can help spending power and provide more guaranteed income.
Securian Retirement is offering a plan participant education program focused on helping participants reduce debt and boost retirement savings. The “Money Management Today for Retirement Tomorrow’ program includes brochures, on-site seminars, and Web-based education. The materials start with an assessment of the person’s financial status and move on through budgeting and an explanation of the 401(k) plan.
401kDIRECT announced the launch of its 401kDIRECT MAX Plan, available for advisers, administrators, and plan sponsors. The provider says the offering has four pre-screened investment portfolios based on standard fiduciary criteria and investment fund credits paid back to the plan.
SecurePath by Transamerica unveiled a Second Careers section of its Web site designed to help pre-retirees and employers plan for the type of retirement that best suits them. The new section includes information such as recommended career and volunteer site links and exclusive editorial content.
ADVISER TOOLS
LPL Financial Corporation is expanding its product and service offering with introduction of an integrated adviser solution platform, supporting independent registered investment advisers (RIAs) and hybrid (dually registered) advisers. LPL says the platform enables advisers to address all of their clients’ commission and fee-based needs while also giving them flexibility to grow their independent RIA offering across any business model.
Advisor Software, Inc., provider of wealth management solutions for advisers, announced that the ASI Portfolio Forecaster will be available to 401(k) plan participants who are using the firm’s Web-based platform. The Monte Carlo simulator performs 1,500 simulations of possible outcomes to model investment portfolios with user-defined cash flow goals and time horizons.
Independent broker/dealer network National Planning Holdings, Inc., announced the launch of an advisory platform for its affiliated advisers. Advisor Solutions is a Web-based portfolio management and reporting platform for financial professionals who are implementing an advisory model within their practices. The platform streamlines the day-to-day operations of advisers while also providing institutional money management and reporting.
MassMutual’s Retirement Services Division developed a suite of sales materials to help advisers and third-party administrators (TPAs) capitalize on the opportunities in both 401(k) and 403(b) plans by using both registered product and group annuity offerings.
Ascensus partnered with LPL Financial and 401(k) Advisors to deliver Fiduciary Advisor 401(k). Designed to support financial advisers, Fiduciary Advisor 401(k) is a suite of retirement plan services, featuring an investment platform, full fee disclosure, and fiduciary protection.
Fidelity Investments announced a new multimedia resource center called the Insight Center on its Web site, advisor.fidelity.com. The center is designed to give advisers easy access to timely, actionable sales ideas, Fidelity research, and market analyses to help their businesses.
TradePMR and Sterne Agee Financial Services (SAFS) announced the Hybrid Advisor platform designed to serve both commission- and fee-based clients. The firms say the platform offers RIAs expertise in retail and institutional brokerage; investment banking and underwriting; secondary trading of corporate, municipal, and government securities; and market-making in over-the-counter stocks.
MasteryPOINT unveiled Plan Investment Plus (PIP), an online service it says will help advisers work with plan sponsors in meeting their obligation to review plan investments.
Trust Builders, Inc., provider of educational solutions for retirement planning, made available a distribution strategy utilizing tax management to extend retirement income. The Tax Wise Distribution Strategy maximizes the advantage of the tax basis of each individual account, the company says, by reducing taxes and helping a participant determine how to both distribute income in retirement and accumulate assets for the planned distribution.
INVESTMENT BENCHMARKING
Standard & Poor’s launched the S&P Target Date Index Series to bring greater transparency and performance measurement to the growing target-date fund market. The index series uses asset class selection and weighting driven by a survey of target-date products available in the market.
JPMorgan Asset Management unveiled an evaluation process to help advisers and clients identify the most appropriate target-date funds. The Target Date Navigator categorizes funds according to their investment composition and glide path strategy. The offering is aimed to help advisers and their clients ensure fiduciary responsibilities are being addressed and that plans are compliant with qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) guidelines.
MSCI Barra launched the MSCI Frontier Emerging Markets Index and a more tradable proxy for this benchmark, the MSCI Frontier Emerging Markets APEX Index. The index is designed to serve as a benchmark covering all countries from the MSCI Frontier Markets Index and the lower size spectrum of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which tends to be less correlated with developed markets.
Standard & Poor’s launched the S&P U.S. Commercial Paper Index. The S&P U.S. Commercial Paper Index consists of commercial paper with one- to three-month maturities issued by corporate issuers, both financial and nonfinancial. Asset-backed commercial paper issues are excluded.
INVESTMENTS
HSBC Global Asset Management launched a Middle East and North Africa fund as part of its plans to expand its capabilities in frontier markets. The HSBC GIF Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Fund forms part of HSBC’s flagship Global Investment Funds Luxembourg Sicav and is available to institutional and retail investors.
Kravitz, provider of design and administration of cash balance pension plans, along with Payden & Rygel, an independent investment manager, launched a fund for cash balance plans. The fund will be distributed through intermediaries including 401(k) providers, financial advisers, and TPAs. The Payden/Kravitz Cash Balance Plan Fund seeks to earn a net rate of return, after fees and expenses, equivalent to the yield on 30-year Treasury Securities Interest Rate.
Touchstone Investments expanded its partnership with Navellier & Associates by merging the existing assets of the Navellier Millennium International Growth Fund into the new Touchstone International Growth Fund. While Touchstone Advisors will assume advisory responsibility, Navellier & Associates, as its subadvisor, will continue to be responsible for the day-to-day management of the fund.
International Value Advisers, LLC (IVA), launched its inaugural mutual funds, IVA Worldwide Fund and IVA International Fund. IVA International Fund generally will invest in markets outside the U.S., and IVA Worldwide Fund will invest globally, including in the U.S.
Wells Fargo & Co. launched the Wells Fargo Advantage Social Sustainability Fund. The offering will invest in stocks of approximately 30 to 50 large-cap companies. The management team’s process begins by establishing fundamental valuations for strong businesses and then identifies those companies whose stock prices are at a discount to that level, the company says. Managers then apply SRI screens to complete the portfolio construction.
Natixis Global Associates (NGA) launched the Delafield Select Fund. The fund is a concentrated portfolio of approximately 25 small- and mid-cap value stocks managed for capital appreciation. The fund was launched after acquiring the assets and liabilities of the Reich & Tang Concentrated Portfolio. The fund has a substantially similar investment strategy to the Concentrated, L.P., but is a registered “40 Act mutual fund and offers A, C, and Y shares.
Calvert launched its latest sustainable and responsible investment mutual fund, part of a new series of investment portfolios known as Calvert Solution Strategies. The Calvert Global Water Fund invests in utility, infrastructure, and technology companies active in managing water resources and will be subadvised by KBC Asset Management International, Ltd., of Dublin, Ireland.
ETFS
Invesco PowerShares Capital Management unveiled four new equity ETFs designed to provide access to companies involved in the agriculture, coal, gold and precious metals, and steel sectors. The new offerings on the NASDAQ Stock Market include: The PowerShares Global Agriculture Portfolio, The PowerShares Global Coal Portfolio, The PowerShares Global Gold and Precious Metals Portfolio, and The PowerShares Global Steel Portfolio.
Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC announced the listing of the PowerShares Global Progressive Transportation Portfolio (PTRP) on the NASDAQ Stock Market. The ETF is based on the Wilder NASDAQ OMXGlobal Energy Efficient Transport Index, which tracks the performance of a global group of companies focused on technologies for utilization of greener, more efficient sources of energy.
Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC announced the PowerShares Global Biotech Portfolio (PBTQ) on the NASDAQ Stock Market. The ETF is based on the NASDAQ OMX Global Biotech Index, designed to measure the overall performance of globally traded securities of the largest and most liquid companies involved in the biotechnology industry, Invesco says.
Illustration by Mike Bertino