Products June 23, 2010

Putnam Releases Revised Sponsor Site

Putnam Investments has launched an enhanced Web site for sponsors of defined contribution plans. 
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A Putnam news release said the site offers an online dashboard that gives sponsors access to information about their plan, its investments, its expenses, and its participants. The data and related analytical tools can help sponsors manage their plan more effectively and control their costs, Putnam said.  

“We have developed a new plan sponsor Web site that is designed to help employers manage their retirement plans more easily and conveniently, while at the same time, approach their role more strategically and more securely fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities,”said Jeffrey R. Carney, Putnam Investments Head of Global Marketing, Products, and Retirement, in the news release. 

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The site features:   

  • Customized plan dashboard to track key analytics and enable plan sponsor to take corrective action to meet plan goals;  
  • On-demand reporting and testing, which allows sponsors to generate reports instantly,measure success, and identify areas for greater focus; 
  • Fiduciary Central, an online repository of all plan documentation needed to comply with the seven year retention requirement;   
  • Putnam proprietary fund monitoring that simplifies day-to-day tracking of fund performance within the plan and proactively notifies the sponsor when action may be required; and,  
  • Alerts, forms, transactions, the sponsor’s profile, and the latest retirement plan and investing news. 

In addition to the plan sponsor site, advisers will have access to the new Putnam 401(k) Advisor Portal, and will be able to manage all their Putnam plans in one location through a single login that includes a drill down to all plan details, the company said. 

The Markets June 23, 2010

Money Managers See Market Value but Risk Potential

47% of professional money managers in Russell Investments’ latest quarterly poll believe the market to be undervalued, up markedly from 28% in the March 2010 survey.  
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A Russell news release about the latest Investment Manager Outlook survey said 9% of managers believe the markets to be overvalued. Managers see opportunity in the market’s current valuation levels but are also on heightened alert for the downside of risk.  

“Managers appear to be holding a ‘risk on, risk off’ switch and swing between loving risk and hating it, changing preferences quickly,” said Mark Eibel, director, Client Investment Strategies at Russell Investments, in the news release. “Managers believe the market is undervalued but want to see consistently strong earnings and improved employment before committing to ‘risk on’ again.”   

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In the latest poll, 73% of managers named economic issues in Europe as an issue posing a significant risk to the performance of U.S. stocks over the next 12 months.   

Manager bullishness for non-U.S. (developed market) equities reflects this same concern, falling 11% from the last survey to 34%. More than half of respondents also pointed to industry regulations (53%) and unemployment (52%) as primary concerns for U.S. equity performance.    

Additional findings include:  

  • Revealing a mindset that has turned increasingly cautious and risk-averse, manager sentiment became more bullish for several sectors and asset classes that are traditionally defensive in nature. Bullishness for cash rose 10% from the March 2010 all-time survey low to 16%, and U.S. Treasuries also saw a 6% increase from the last survey to 12%. Sectors such as consumer staples and utilities saw increases in bullishness as well, rising 5% and 9%, respectively, from the last survey.  
  • Technology continues its long run as the most-favored sector, although manager bullishness for the sector declined 10%  from March 2010 to 69%. Bullishness for the materials and processing sector also saw a sizable drop in bullishness of 9% points from the last survey to 40%.  

More than 150 managers participated in the latest survey. More information is at http://www.Russell.com/Helping-Advisors/Markets/InvestmentManagerOutlook.asp. 

   

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