Products March 26, 2008

Sun Life Enhances Executive Bonus Marketing Program

The U.S. Individual Insurance Division of Sun Life Financial Inc. has announced several enhancements to its Executive Bonus Marketing Program.
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The Executive Bonus Marketing Program is designed to provide financial advisers with the necessary tools to help business owners remain competitive and recruit and retain top talent.

The enhancements include a new Business Owner Guide and an updated CE-Approved “Reward to Retain’ training presentation, according to the company.

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“The presence and influence of economic pressures on jobs and salaries make executive benefit plans crucial in recruiting and retaining key employees,’ said Janice A. Forgays, Esq., CLU, Vice President, Advanced Markets of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (U.S.), in a news release. “The Sun Life Financial Executive Bonus Marketing Program provides producers with the tools necessary to effectively work with business owners to implement these plans that are so critical to the long term success of their businesses.’

For further information, contact Sun Life Financial’s Advanced Markets Group at 1-800-432-1102, ext. 1846, 1756, or 1838; or Case Design at ext. 2450 or 1817.

Products March 26, 2008

Wilshire Models Foundation for New Direxion Offering

Direxion Funds has launched the Direxion /Wilshire Dynamic Portfolios, institutional style model portfolios for financial advisers.
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The funds, according to a press release, “utilize the expertise in asset allocation and portfolio construction of Wilshire Funds Management, the international investment management unit of Wilshire Associates Incorporated, a global investment services and consulting firm.

The Direxion/Wilshire Dynamic Portfolios combine both strategic and tactical asset allocation modeling. “The model portfolios enable financial advisers to achieve the desired beta exposure more efficiently, redeploy the resulting freed up capital to alternative asset classes and to adjust to changing market conditions,” according to the announcement.

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Four traditional Wilshire asset allocation models are used as a basis for the Direxion /Wilshire Dynamic Portfolios, ranging from a conservative 40/60 model to an all equity model. Advisers who subscribe to the Direxion/Wilshire models are sent a monthly report that provides them with specific rebalancing recommendations based on the market environment, along with rationale for making potential allocation shifts.

Exposures

Direxion’s funds provide daily exposure from 100% to 250% to the underlying asset classes represented by numerous market indices and were created to complement, not replace core holdings. According to the announcement, “in the Dynamic Portfolios, the additional exposure generated from the leveraged index funds is used to replicate beta, freeing up capital for further diversification to strategies that seek alpha and / or to investments with low correlations.’

Direxion Funds (formerly Potomac Funds), managed by Rafferty Asset Management, LLC, is a provider of leveraged index and alternative-class mutual fund products for investment advisers and sophisticated investors who seek to effectively manage risk and return in both bull and bear markets. Founded in 1997, the company has approximately $1.5 billion in assets under management.

More information is available at http://www.direxionfunds.com.

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