Products May 13, 2011

Russell Launches Client Engagement Platform

Russell Investments has launched LifePoints CONNECT, a client engagement platform for investment advisers.
Reported by

The Web-based tool enables individual advisers to engage particular clients with profiling tools, investment and savings plans, access to globally diversified portfolios, and quarterly economic and portfolio reviews. It automates the client and investment management process from planning through to implementation and reporting, and facilitates regular interaction between the adviser and the client, Russell said.

Specifically, Russell said the tool allows advisers to:

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  • Engage clients and prospects efficiently and easily with personalized communications.
  • Streamline the client assessment and investment recommendation process with integrated profiling and proposal tools.
  • Implement a solution to diversify and manage clients’ assets, including an investment plan and turnkey access to Russell’s asset allocation LifePoints Funds.
  • Deliver scalable, ongoing service that can be delivered according to a client’s needs, including a combination of fund information, quarterly reviews and investor newsletters, and additional information such as investor events that clients can participate in to help them stay engaged.
  • Manage clients through the LifePoints CONNECT dashboard, where the adviser can see clients at-a-glance and review the status of clients for each stage of the LifePoints CONNECT process.

LifePoints CONNECT is initially available to selected Russell adviser clients, including some 130 financial advisers with Raymond James Financial Institutions Division.


 

Compliance May 13, 2011

BofA Merrill Lynch Faces Religious Bias Suit

A former Merrill Lynch branch manager has accused the firm of discriminating against him for being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Reported by

Reuters reported that Brent Arave claims his boss told him “to change his LDS-like behavioral traits” if he wanted to keep working at the firm. According to a lawsuit filed with the California Superior Court in Riverside, the 25-year Merrill veteran said that for over a decade, he was encouraged by his bosses to recruit trainee advisers from his alma mater, Brigham Young University, which is affiliated with the LDS church. 

In August 2010, the firm conducted an anonymous employee survey, results of which included complaints that Merrill Lynch employed too many members of the LDS church and accused Arave of “preaching” LDS doctrine at work, according to Reuters. Following the survey, Arave said he was denied a request to transfer to another office, and that his boss demanded that he make a public apology to the advisers he managed for “creating an environment of favoritism to his personal religious beliefs.” 

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Arave said he submitted a formal complaint to the firm against his boss, Joseph Holsinger, and Katherine Anderson, a human resources manager who he accuses of ignoring his allegations about religious discrimination. The news report notes that Arave alleges the firm improperly informed the employees of his complaint, after which his work environment became so intolerable he was forced to leave. 

Arave is seeking unspecified damages on seven counts, including religious discrimination, harassment and wrongful termination, Reuters said.
 

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