Data & Research February 19, 2013

Youngest and Oldest Participants Most Confident

The youngest and oldest working-age adults are the most confident in their ability to retire and maintain current lifestyle, a survey found.
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Forty-four percent of retirement plan participants ages 20 to 30 and 45% of those older than 50 are either “confident” or “very confident,” according to the survey conducted by the companies of OneAmerica. Only 37% of respondents 30- to 40-years-old and 35% of those 40 to 50 responded with such confidence.    

The 40- to 50-year-old group is also the group with the most respondents (25%) who said they are “completely doubtful” or “not confident” in their ability to retire and maintain current lifestyle.    

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“The drivers of retirement confidence likely vary from generation to generation,” said Marsha Whitehead, vice president of marketing communications for the retirement services division. “Younger people may be overly confident because retirement seems so far off to them, whereas older people may be drawing confidence from their life experience or may have adjusted their expectations.”   

The companies of OneAmerica surveyed visitors to its participant website to determine how they learned about finances and prepared for retirement, what resources are most effective and how confident they are with their retirement preparations; 6,360 participants responded.

Deals & People February 19, 2013

Forward Names Tactical Strategist

Jim Welsh has been appointed tactical strategist at Forward Management LLC in an expansion of the firm’s macro investing capabilities.
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Welsh will co-manage the firm’s Forward Tactical Enhanced Fund (FTETX), a quantitative alternative strategy that seeks to outperform the S&P 500 Index with less downside volatility than the broad market.

Welsh, who joined Forward in June, brings with him a reputation for prescient macroeconomic insights, via his newsletter “Macro Tides.” (The newsletter was formerly known as “The Financial Commentator.”) Welsh will now write a monthly newsletter called “Forward Markets: Macro Strategy Review,” which is part of the firm’s published research and analysis available on www.forwardinvesting.com.

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“Investors by now are all too aware that their investments can be impacted by Washington or Beijing as much as what happens on Wall Street,” said Alan Reid, chief executive of Forward Management. “Bringing someone of Jim’s caliber to the firm is our signal to investors that we take the potential impacts of macro events on their portfolios seriously,” Reid said.

Welsh previously managed client accounts at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Before that, he ran his own investment firm, Welsh Money Management in Carlsbad, California. His newsletter, launched in 1985, was frequently mentioned and quoted by many financial publications, and he has appeared on TV and radio programs.

In addition to co-managing the Forward Tactical Enhanced Fund, Welsh will provide input on new investment strategies developed at Forward to meet the objectives of investors navigating an increasingly challenging global investment landscape.

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