Products July 1, 2013

Vanguard Offers Plan Transaction Apps

Investment management firm Vanguard now offers retirement plan participants the ability to manage their plan assets through mobile apps.
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401(k) plan participants who use mobile devices can initiate transactions through Vanguard mobile apps, as well as receive text messages about the status of those transactions.

Depending on the rules of their retirement plan, participants have access to a full range of account capabilities, such as changing paycheck contribution levels, exchanging from one fund to another, changing their current investment mix, directing future contributions and rebalancing. Participants can also use Vanguard’s mobile app to check their account balance, review transaction history, monitor their personal performance, view account statements and see details about their plan.

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Vanguard introduced the transaction capability in response to participants’ growing preference for interacting with the company via a mobile device, and completed the rollout in May. As of May 2013, nearly 20% of Vanguard’s online interactions with retirement plan participants came from a mobile device, compared to 4% in January 2011. Since the text messaging service was introduced in January 2013, about 30% of Vanguard participants who initiated transactions online have opted to receive updates in that manner.

Deals & People July 1, 2013

Morningstar Adds Three to Retirement Solutions Group

Investment research firm Morningstar, Inc. has added three individuals to its retirement solutions group in its Investment Management division.
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David Falkof, Bryan Platz and Nathan Voris have been added to the retirement solutions group. Falkof and Platz will be investment consultants, responsible for the construction of customized target-date and target-risk solutions.

Voris is taking a newly created position as large market practice leader. He will work with a team of investment, client service and sales professionals to develop business and client strategy in the defined contribution plan sponsor marketplace.

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Falkof was previously a mutual fund analyst in Morningstar’s research group. Platz, a CFA, joined Morningstar from Mesirow Financial where he was a consultant, supporting plan provider client relationships and manager selection.

Previously, Voris was a consultant with R.V. Kuhns & Associates, working with defined contribution plan sponsors.

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