The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) scheduled
two phone forums to discuss recent changes made to the Employee
Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS).
Revenue Procedure 2013-12, which
plan sponsors may use immediately, will be discussed by Janet Mak, manager of
EP Voluntary Compliance, and EP Voluntary Compliance Program Coordinator Paul
C. Hogan. Changes include being able to correct 403(b) plan document failures
and new Voluntary Compliance Program procedures. (See “IRS
Updates Compliance Resolution System.”)
The first event is Thursday,
February 21, at 11 a.m. Eastern time. Registration for that event is here.
Curian’s
Select Portfolios aim to provide financial professionals with managed accounts
that are easier for investors to understand, user-friendly and intuitive for
quicker account setup and administration.
The
Curian Select Portfolios are also designed to be simpler to purchase and
comprehend, including simpler fee and tax reporting structures, said Chris
Rosato, senior vice president of strategic development for Curian.
“While
the interface is simplified for ease of use, the portfolios are driven by a
powerful asset management process, giving financial professionals and their
clients access to institutional-quality guidance and expertise,” Rosato said.
Select
Portfolios have six guidance strategies across a risk spectrum, from
conservative objectives to the potential for maximum growth. Advisers can
evaluate an investor’s needs and create an investment plan based on risk
tolerance and investment objectives.
The
six strategies:
Diversified
Income
is designed to help conservative investors generate a stream of income through
diversified investments;
Multi-Strategy
Income
is designed for moderately conservative investors seeking to generate a
competitive stream of income through allocations to stocks, bonds and
alternative investments;
Equity Income is designed for
investors seeking a moderate amount of risk, with an emphasis on U.S. and
international dividend-paying equities;
(Cont’d…)
Multi-Strategy
Growth
is designed for investors seeking moderate growth, with an emphasis on equity
investments, bonds and alternatives;
Global Growth is designed for
long-term growth investors seeking exposure to diversified equity investments
with a modest bond and global allocation; and
Global Maximum
Growth
is designed to offer the potential for maximum long-term growth, focusing on
higher-growth markets and asset managers.
According
to Rosato, many advisers have indicated that investment products have become
too complex to understand and are limiting their success. “The Curian Select
Portfolios are designed to address this challenge through a streamlined,
intuitive and cost-effective alternative,” he said.
Curian
analyzes performance and attribution relative to peers, sector exposure,
holdings overlap and peer group measures such as tracking error, information
ratios and up/down market capture to choose investments. The goal is to
evaluate thousands of potential funds and choose the ones that best meet the
criteria of performance, repeatability and fit.
Curian
Capital is an asset management company that manufactures investment strategies
and asset management solutions.