In this newly created position, Kolts will help develop new
commodities strategies and work alongside Commonfund’s account-specific
relationship officers in the marketing and positioning of the organization’s
commodities strategies. He will be based in Wilton, Connecticut, and will
report to Tyler Stevens, managing director of the group.
Previously, Kolts was head of global marketing and sales at
Merit Commodity Partners in New York and Dubai. Before this, he served as vice
president and product manager of commodity indices at Standard& Poor’s. He
was also director at Dow Jones Indexes where he focused on commodities indices.
Transition
Boomers—those less than 10 years from retirement—agree that rising health care
costs will have the greatest effect on their retirement outlook.
According to the 2012 Retirement & Politics Survey from
Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, 67% of all Transition Boomers,
regardless of party affiliation, listed health care expenses as their top
concern, with Republicans at 64%, Democrats at 69% and Independents at 66%.
Social Security ranked second at 53% for all Transition Boomers, followed by
tax payment changes (31%), rising national debt (26%), unemployment (19%) and
education (4%).
When it comes to overall retirement savings philosophy, 59%
of Republican Transition Boomers identified themselves as being conservative or
moderately conservative compared with 36% of Democrats. However, Democrat
Transition Boomers were more likely to be balanced in their retirement savings
approach, with 29% identifying themselves as balanced versus 18% for Republican
Transition Boomers.
Regarding the effect the election will have on their
approach to retirement savings, 29% of Republican Transition Boomers were
likely to become more aggressive if Mitt Romney wins while 30% of Democrats
would become more conservative. If President Barack Obama is re-elected, 81% of
Democrat Transition Boomers anticipate no changes to their retirement approach
while 42% of Republicans said they would become more conservative.
(Cont’d…)
Thirty-nine percent of Independents and 29% of those with no
preference identified themselves as conservative or moderately conservative,
while 30% of Independents and 34% with no preference identified themselves as
balanced in their retirement savings approach.
The majority of this group of Transition Boomers also said
the outcome of the election would not trigger a change in their retirement
savings strategy. Specifically, if President Obama is re-elected, 64% of
Independents and 75% of no preference Transition Boomers said they would keep
the same retirement savings strategy. If Romney wins, 61% of Independents and
73% of no preference Transition Boomers said they would keep the same retirement
savings strategy.
Retirement planning is clearly important to all Transition
Boomers. Seventy-two percent began saving for retirement in their 40s or
earlier, and 28% started in their 30s. More Republican Transition Boomers (79%)
than Democrats (69%), Independents (71%), or Transition Boomers without
political party preference (67%) said they have started saving for retirement
prior to age 50.
In total, 17% of Transition Boomers indicated they haven’t
begun saving for retirement yet. Only 12% of Republicans,19% of Democrats, 19%
of Independents and 23% of those with no party preference said they have not
yet begun saving for retirement.
The Allianz Life 2012 Retirement & Politics Survey was
commissioned by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America and conducted
September 17 to 20, 2012, among a random sample of online panelists by Ipsos.
The results included 1,209 respondents ages 55 to 65.