The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation updated its 4044 and 4050 mortality tables for 2024. The tables are named after the sections of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to which they apply.
The 4044 table is used for calculating withdrawal liabilities when a single-employer plan terminates involuntarily or via distress termination, or when a multiemployer plan terminates following a mass withdrawal.
Under 4050, a unisex mortality table is used to determine benefit transfer amount under the Missing Participants Program, in which a terminating plan transfers to the PBGC the benefits owed to a missing participant. When that participant is found, the participant is given the benefits.
Scott Hittner, the chief actuary at October Three Consulting, says Section 335 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, which caps annual mortality improvements at 0.78%, does not apply to these tables. Section 335 only applies to tables used “for minimum required contribution purposes.”
Franklin Templeton Converts Mutual Fund Into Franklin Focused Growth ETF
Franklin Templeton launched an exchange-traded fund, Franklin Focused Growth ETF, on the Chicago Board Options Exchange under the ticker FFOG. The fund aims to provide capital appreciation by investing in growth equity securities.
The ETF was converted from a mutual fund, and it maintains the predecessor Franklin Focused Growth Fund’s investment goal, principal investment strategies, performance benchmark, investment adviser and portfolio management team.
One difference from the predecessor mutual fund is that FFOG is a non-diversified fund, meaning it will generally invest in fewer issuers than a diversified fund and may be more sensitive to economic, business, political or other changes that affect individual issuers or investments than a diversified fund.
FFOG is managed by Matt Moberg, senior vice president and portfolio manager with Franklin Equity Group, who had managed the predecessor mutual fund since its inception in 2016.
“FFOG offers a large-cap growth strategy, run by a team that focuses its investments in the most innovative sectors of the economy, all within one of the most innovative investment vehicles on the market, the ETF,” Moberg said in a statement.
SCG Asset Management Offers Equity-Linked Note Interval Fund
SCG Asset Management LLC, a provider of derivative-based investment solutions, reintroduced the Alternative Strategies Income Fund, a continuously-offered, closed-end interval fund focused on equity-linked notes.
The actively managed fund invests in a portfolio of notes and seeks to provide high income with consistent quarterly distributions, regardless of market regime. Through its proprietary Selector model, SCG designs a high-income-paying portfolio diversified across timespans, industries and sectors.
The fund also seeks to provide low to moderate volatility and low correlation to the broader markets. With investment minimums as low as $5,000 and no accreditation requirements, the fund can be offered to any investor, including those operating retirement accounts, through an adviser. There are no subscription documents and no Schedule K-1 tax forms.
“The Fund is well-suited for a diversified, income generating alternative asset allocation in an investor-friendly 1940 Act structure that trades at NAV with the efficiency and transparency of a single ticker symbol,” Gregory H. Sachs, founder, CEO and CIO of SCG, said in a statement.
Voyant Introduces ‘Wellness’ for Enterprise Companies
Voyant, a provider of software-as-a-service-based wealth management, wellness and client digital engagement solutions that is owned by AssetMark Financial Holdings Inc., introduced Voyant Wellness, a client-facing platform.
Voyant Wellness is designed for enterprise companies, including banks, private banks and wealth management firms. It offers a variety of customizable, module-based solutions—including standalone calculators, account aggregation, simplified goal planning and the ability to build a personal financial timeline—that are integrated into an organization’s brand identity and internal tools.
“With Voyant Wellness, we are offering the enterprise market a digital-first way to interact with their clients and provide configurable financial tools and services that can be personalized according to business needs,” David Kaufman, CEO of Austin, Texas-based Voyant, said in a statement. “Our goal is to help enterprise companies leverage technology and data to unlock financial success for their clients.”
Voyant Wellness can be accessed from corporate intranets, employer benefit sites or as part of direct-to-consumer digital solutions. In each situation, as consumers engage with the various financial wellness modules, information collected can be used for lead generation, client segmentation and targeted marketing.
