Products October 19, 2010

Informa Provides Tool for Investment Due Diligence

Informa Investment Solutions introduced PSN Monitor, an interactive tool enabling institutional investors to incorporate consolidated industry insights into their own due diligence process.
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PSN Monitor converts manager research activity into investment patterns. Institutional investors can utilize PSN Monitor’s data-mining engine to evaluate their current investments against the products chosen by a broad investor community.   

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According to a press release, the process begins with thousands of product comparisons conducted by the PSN investment community. PSN Monitor aggregates this research to identify those products that are most frequently compared against each other, then provides instant access to the consolidated due diligence distilled from these community comparisons.  

“Institutional investors, along with their increasingly important research teams and consultant partners, are being pressed to justify past and ongoing investment decisions,” said to Lac Vuong, Managing Director, Informa Investment Solutions, in the press release. “PSN Monitor enables plan sponsors and other investors to review how their selected investments hold up against the aggregated community research. They are then able to evaluate these new-found insights with their research teams to determine the best approach going forward.”

Data & Research October 19, 2010

Younger Boomers Worry Significantly about Retirement

Younger boomers still have time to recover from the 2008 economic downturn, but worry about control and stability in retirement more than older boomers.
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A survey of Americans ages 44-75 by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America found a majority (54%) of the younger group (44-49 year olds) reported feeling “totally unprepared” for retirement. They also expressed a greater need than their older counterparts to take more control of their financial future (47% versus 35%), attain more certainty and financial security (41% versus 30%), and reduce their financial vulnerability (26% versus 22%). According to a press release, 84% of younger boomers agreed that the safety of their money mattered more to them now than it had a few years ago.  

Younger boomers are also more likely to be receptive to working with a financial professional. Though only 19% of this group reported working with a financial planner, 47% are more open to the idea of working with one in the future versus 29% of all respondents. Ninety-five percent of younger boomers said it is “important” or “extremely important” that their financial professional help protect a portion of their nest egg. A similar number (87%) want their financial professional to help them make sure they have adequate guaranteed income in retirement, with 51% saying they want help planning for a “stable and secure retirement.”   

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Income products with guarantees such as annuities received favorable reviews from younger boomers, the press release said. Of those who own an annuity, 80% say they are happy with their purchase. The younger boomers that own annuities ranked them highest in satisfaction (83%) among all financial instruments, beating out mutual funds at 66%, stocks at 63%, U.S. Savings Bonds at 51%, and CDs at 43%.

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