Products July 28, 2009

Standard Releases DB Modeling Tool

Standard Retirement Services has released an online defined benefit calculator that allows retirement plan participants to compare alternative pension income scenarios based on different assumptions and variables.

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Pension Estimator allows participants to model an unlimited number of potential scenarios, including alternative retirement dates, interest rate assumptions, salary increase assumptions, and annuitization options, according to a press release. The pension income projections can be automatically integrated with The Standard’s existing defined contribution retirement planning tools and services.

“Pension Estimator was built to help plan sponsors decrease their time spent administering pension benefit illustrations as well as reduce their administrative costs,” said Dave Dougherty, director and consulting actuary at The Standard.

Pension Estimator is available to plan sponsors who have both their defined contribution and defined benefit plans administered by The Standard. The tool is customized and managed by The Standard’s actuarial team.


Products July 28, 2009

MSSB Launches UMA Annuity Feature with Nationwide

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney launched Select Retirement, an optional income protection feature that is specially designed to augment the Select UMA unified managed account program.

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Select Retirement employs a fixed-income annuity issued by Nationwide Life Insurance Company (Nationwide) in order to create guaranteed lifetime income from the Select UMA account, according to a news release. Before and after activating Select Retirement, eligible investors can use Select UMA to help build assets. Select UMA provides a selection of diversified asset allocation strategies and the ability to construct portfolios with a mix of separately managed accounts, mutual funds, and/or exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

“The ability to combine Select Retirement with Select UMA provides financial advisers with a powerful program for clients who seek to balance asset growth potential while at the same time eliminating the worst-case scenario of outliving their income,” said James J. Tracy, director of Consulting Group for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, in the release.

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