Products December 18, 2008

Ascensus Adds Charles Schwab to Retirement Platform

Recordkeeper Ascensus has expanded its services to fee-based advisers by adding Charles Schwab to its retirement platform.
Reported by

Registered investment advisers and third party administrators (TPAs) can now use Charles Schwab’s custodial platform through Ascensus’ PrudentAdvisor or PrudentLink fee-based retirement plan service models, according to a press release.

PrudentAdvisor offers:

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  • retirement plan design;
  • plan installation, maintenance and reporting;
  • plan administration and recordkeeping services;
  • investment selections (from thousands of mutual funds including asset allocation models and self-directed brokerage account options);
  • “affordable” plan fees; and
  • participant communication, education and retirement planning tools.

More information is available at www.ascensus.com.

In Practice December 18, 2008

Many HNW Investors Not Seeking Advice about the Financial Crisis

As of mid-October, only about 20% of high net worth investors (HNW) had contacted their current investment adviser for advice about the financial crisis, new research says.
Reported by

Further, research firm Phoenix Marketing International notes, the majority (54%) of these investors had done nothing different in their investment behavior.

“Our research uncovered some interesting and somewhat counter-intuitive findings,” stated David Thompson, Managing Director, Phoenix Affluent Market, in a press release. “Our data strongly suggests that many advisers to HNW investors have yet to fully engage their wealthy clients concerning actions that they should be taking as a result of the economic meltdown.”

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The report, titled “The U.S. High Net Worth Market – A Segmented Portrait,” also says there are no clear market leaders among wealth management firms. “The door appears to be open for the emergence of a strong leader in delivering state-of-the-art services and products to HNW investors,” added Thompson.

Although Fidelity has consistently been the most successful in penetrating the HNW segments, there are no firms that stand above others in capturing assets of these investors, the company says. In fact, firms like Merrill Lynch, Smith Barney, Morgan Stanley, and Wachovia are about equal in HNW client loyalty and satisfaction.

 

 

More information about the study, including purchasing information, is available here.

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