Deals & People November 28, 2007

XShares Teams with RPG to Offer ETFs in 401(k) Plans

XShares Advisors LLC has partnered with RPG Consultants, a retirement plan provider, to provide plan sponsors, advisers, and third-party administrators (TPAs) the ability to add lower-cost exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to their retirement plan portfolios.
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The RPG open architecture platform facilitates the use of actively and passively managed mutual funds as well as any of the approximately 550 ETFs currently trading in the U.S., according to the announcement. In addition, RPG Consultants will be providing the platform to allow advisers to offer the XShares Advisors’ TDAX family of target-date ETFs, the first lifecycle ETFs to be introduced to the market as the default option in their 401(k) offerings to comply with recent Qualified Default Investment Alternative (QDIA) legislation, a press release said (see Amerivest, XShares Launch Lifecycle ETFs).

“Our TDAX family of five lifecycle ETFs provides investors with fully diversified retirement strategies bundled in a single ETF that automatically rebalances its constituents as it approaches its specific target retirement date,” said XShares Group CEO, Bill Henson, in the press release. “It’s a lower-cost, one-step solution to retirement planning.”

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By working with many financial institutions in eliminating the trading fees and commissions typically associated with retail ETF purchases, RPG devised a fully-automated, daily valuation, internet-driven administrative and recordkeeping program that results in lower overall plan fees. “We encourage advisors to take advantage of the features that our platform provides, including offering asset allocations models using inexpensive ETFs,” said Alvin H. Rapp, RPG Consultants founding partner.

More about XShares Advisors, sponsor of the TDAX, Adelante, and HealthShares families of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), is available at www.xsharesadvisors.com. More about RPG Consultants, which provides recordkeeping, administration, and consulting services, can be found at www.rpgny.com.

In Practice November 28, 2007

Hiring in Financial Services Expected to Rise in 2008

Half of financial services firms plan to increase professional hiring in 2008.
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Less than one-third (29%) of financial firms planned on flat hiring and only 19% expected lower hiring in 2008, according to the “2008 Financial Services Talent Acquisition Survey” by Claymore Partners, an executive search and consulting firm specializing in the financial services arena.

The most in-demand positions by financial institutions in 2008 are information technology and sales positions. Information technology positions were also viewed as the most difficult function to fill by financial institutions despite the use increasing use of outsourced and offshore technology resources, Claymore said, in a press release. Additionally, financial services firms say they have difficulty filling the finance function.

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Nearly all (90%) of respondents indicated that the impact of the credit crisis on their 2008 hiring plans would be slight or have no impact. The only place where hiring appears to be impacted is in specific investment banking and mortgage firms, as well as areas that are deeply and directly impacted by the credit crisis. Those firms are reducing hiring plans in specific areas, Claymore says, but the impact does not seem to be wide spread at this point.

The 2008 Financial Services Talent Acquisition Survey was sent to over 350 human resources executives from leading financial service institutions across the USA. For more information on the findings from the survey, please contact Steven Landberg at slandberg@ClaymorePartners.com.

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