In Practice January 23, 2008

Financial Planners Cite Retirement Concern among Clients

Almost all (91%) financial planner CPAs surveyed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) cited retirement as a top personal finance concern of clients.
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Health care (59%) ranked a distance second, followed by education (47%), according to the survey results.

Financial planner CPAs also reported younger clients are postponing major life activities due to financial considerations. More than a third (35%) said clients age 25 to 34 are postponing buying a home, and 24% said younger clients are postponing retirement due to finances.

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Survey respondents said on average 61% of their clients are on track for retirement, while 32% are postponing retirement for financial reasons.

Thirty percent of financial planner CPAs said their clients are carrying more credit card debt than they did five years ago. While the number one reason cited for the additional debt was excessive discretionary spending (81%), 40% said their clients’ debt increased from using credit cards to pay basic living expenses.

The survey was conducted in December via a questionnaire emailed to members of the AICPA Financial Planning Membership Section, and received 427 responses (44% of respondents manage more than $10 million in assets; 10% manage $5 million to $10 million in assets; 21% have $1 million to $5 million in assets under management; 8% are managing between $500,000

Products January 22, 2008

Legg Mason Enters 130/30 Funds Marketplace

Legg Mason, Inc. has launched the Legg Mason Partners 130/30 U.S. Large Cap Equity Fund.
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The fund is subadvised by Batterymarch Financial Management, Inc., which in 2007 introduced a 130/30 U.S. Large Cap separate-account strategy for institutional investors, the company said. The new fund will be a product focus for Legg Mason’s funds distribution arm, directed at individual investors as well as 401(k) and other defined contribution programs.

The fund began trading on November 8, 2007, and is a vehicle for institutions that are interested in adding potential alpha-seeking strategies to their overall asset allocation but do not have prime brokerage relationships.

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“After seeing much demand for the 130/30 product among institutional investors, we are excited to roll out a vehicle for retail and smaller institutional investors,” stated Brian Chiappinelli, Manager and Product Specialist for Batterymarch Financial Management, in a company announcement.

More information is at http://www.leggmason.com/individualinvestors.

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