Products June 11, 2009

The Principal Releases Income Annuity Resource for Advisers

The new Income Annuity Training Guide from the Principal Financial Group helps financial professionals understand how to offer income annuities as part of a retirement income strategy, the company said.
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“With the shrinking role of Social Security and the number of defined benefit pension plans waning, income annuities remain one of the only sources of guaranteed, lifetime income,” said Steve Becker, vice president, Business Development—Annuity Services at The Principal, in a news release. “Our new guide helps financial professionals deepen their understanding of income annuities and meet growing client demand for a retirement income that won’t be rocked by market turmoil.”

The guide covers:

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  • risks retirees face;
  • benefits, value-added features, and tax implications of income annuities;
  • income annuity strategies: blending income annuities with other investments.

The Income Annuity Training Guide is part of the Principal Retirement Income Edge , a program equipping financial professionals with education, tools, and other resources to help meet client needs and grow their retirement income planning business (see “Principal Offers Retirement Income Planning Tools for Advisers“).


Deals & People June 11, 2009

Mercer to Provide Services to Existing Mercer/Putnam Taft-Hartley Clients

Mercer and Putnam Investments announced Wednesday that Mercer will now provide all plan services for existing Taft-Harley clients that had been serviced by both firms.
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A news release said Putnam, meanwhile, will focus exclusively on the investment management component of these plans. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The pact is effective July 1, 2009.

In addition to continuing to provide all recordkeeping and administration services including call center support and technology for these clients, under the new agreement, Mercer will assume responsibility for overall relationship management and sales support, as well as member communication and education programs, the announcement said.

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Putnam will continue to make its investment products and services available to existing and prospective Taft-Hartley clients. Mercer will now pursue new Taft-Hartley administration opportunities under the Mercer brand.

Bringing more than 40 years of collective Taft-Hartley experience, Patrick White, John Hume, and Arthur Georgantas, will join Mercer from Putnam as relationship managers, according to the announcement. Also joining Mercer’s Taft-Hartley Relationship Management team is Ken Sullivan, who brings 11 years of defined contribution experience to his position, including nine years with Putnam Investments.

Mercer provides defined contribution administration services to 61 union groups, representing 309,000 members with more than $7.8 billion in assets. Putnam has $3.5 billion of Taft-Hartley retirement assets under management as of May 31, 2009, according to the announcement.

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