Although 59% of Americans set a goal to save for retirement
in 2015, only 31% are doing so, according to a new survey of 1,000 people with
investable assets between $50,000 and $250,000 conducted by Bank of America and
Merrill Edge.
Among Millennials, 48% say the economy is the most significant factor affecting
their savings habits, and among all Americans, 42% say the economy is the most
significant factor affecting their savings. Thirty-six percent of respondents
said they wish they had stuck to a budget in the past five years. While 51% set
a goal to pay down debt in 2015, only 38% accomplished this.
The survey also found that despite the economic pressures on
their finances, 50% of those Americans who are saving for retirement want to
upgrade their lifestyle in retirement, as opposed to just affording the basics.
Also, 89% of those saving for retirement say they would not be comfortable postponing
retirement savings, and 47% regret not
having saved more in the past five years.
Americans apparently are not willing to cut corners to
minimize expenses, as only 54% would be willing to move in with loved ones, 26%
would be willing to move to a cheaper area, and a mere 20% would set a budget.
“Year over year, we continue to see financial regrets
surrounding extraneous spending, particularly with the youngest generations,
and it’s visibly impacting their ability to pursue long-term financial goals,”
says Aron Levine, head of Merrill Edge at Bank of America. “The good news is we’re
seeing increased optimism heading into 2016 with a focus on saving and
investing, including a decrease in overall spending and an increasing
reluctance to borrow from retirement funds.”
NEXT: Goals for 2016
Asked about their financial goals for 2016, 68% of survey respondents said they
will be saving more, 67% said spending less and 53% said investing more. However, 61% of Millennials said they will be
spending more, compared to 26% of Gen Xers, Baby Boomers and seniors.
Nonetheless, 88% of Millennials said they will save more (compared to 64% of
Gen Xers, Baby Boomers and seniors), and 82% of Millennials said they will
invest more (versus 48%) in the coming year.
Among retirees, 71% say saving money is less of a priority,
compared to 31% of non-retirees, and 49% of retirees plan to save less in 2016,
compared to 21% of non-retirees. Similarly, retirees are more apt than their
non-retired counterparts (73% versus 52%) to believe that a big purchase is
worthwhile as long as it doesn’t put them in debt.
While 84% of Americans said they would not be comfortable
making expensive purchases today, 57% said it might be worthwhile if it lasts a
long time, has more value in the future (42%) or creates lasting memories
(27%). Perhaps due to their penchant for social media, 61% of Millennials
justify a large expense if it generates lasting memories, compared to 21% of
other generations. Further, 55% of Millennials believe a big expense is
worthwhile if it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, compared to 28% of other
generations.
NEXT: Financial regrets
Retirees are also less likely than those who are not retired
to regret superfluous spending habits over the past five years, such as eating out
(17% versus 46%), buying clothing (10% versus 28%), purchasing technological
items (8% versus 20%), cars (7% versus 17%) and vacations (5% versus 19%).
Ninety-four percent of respondents overall say they have no regrets about how much they spent on real estate in the
past five years. Ninety-two percent went into debt to pay for their homes, or for
home improvements or renovations (74%). However, 96% said they would not be
comfortable living in a home that costs more than they can afford.
“While some debt may make sense to take on, respondents need
to be mindful that debt isn’t always an easy burden to manage,” Levine says. “Some
of the top regrets of respondents this year included wishing they had paid off
debt faster and avoiding going into debt altogether. So, it’s important to keep
your level of debt manageable to help balance spending with saving for
retirement.”
Braun Research conducted the survey for Bank of America and
Merrill Edge in early September. The full report can be downloaded here.
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Richard Ketchum, chairman
and chief executive of the Financial
Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), has announced his plan to retire in
the second half of 2016. The Board of Governors of the self-regulatory
organization will conduct a search for a successor that considers internal as well
as external candidates.
Ketchum has been one of the
foremost industry regulators for more than three decades. He came to FINRA in 2009 from the New York Stock Exchange, where he was CEO of NYSE regulation. He
also spent 12 years at NASD and The Nasdaq Stock Market, where he was president
of both organizations. Before that, he was the director of the market regulation
unit of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“I’m proud of FINRA’s
achievements over the past six years,” Ketchum said in a statement. “We have
been at the forefront of investor protection in our aggressive efforts to help
enforce the rules that are so crucial to fair financial markets.”
“FINRA has thrived under
Rick’s leadership, and we look forward to his continued guidance over the next
many months,” said Lead Governor Jack
Brennan, former CEO of Vanguard Group. “His stewardship began in the
aftermath of the financial crisis when public trust in the financial system was
at an historic low. As a champion of initiatives such as the High Risk Broker
program, improvements in BrokerCheck, the expansion of TRACE reporting of
asset-backed securities, and the expansion of FINRA’s responsibilities across
stock and options trading, Rick has put FINRA on the front line of the movement
for stronger investor protections and greater market integrity.”
Dale Brown, president and chief
executive of the Financial Services Institute (FSI), says
Ketchum was always willing to listen, understand and consider the perspectives
of all stakeholders.
NEXT:
GRP Advisor Alliance hires EVP of Worksite Financial.
Amy Glynn has
joined GRP Advisor Alliance (GRPAA)
as executive vice president of Worksite Financial.
Glynn is tasked with developing and deploying worksite
solutions and programs for GRPAA members ranging from a financial wellness
program with Financial Finesse to rollover support, advice, collective trusts,
tools and training.
Glynn has been in the
retirement plan industry for more than 20 years serving in corporate and
entrepreneurial capacities. Most recently, she was president of retirement
services at Calton & Associates, an independent hybrid firm leveraging
technology, intelligence and teamwork to support the retirement plan
marketplace. She previously worked with National Retirement Partners in 2002
while running institutional sales in the Northeast for New York Life, after
which she served as director of retirements at Commonwealth Financial Network,
where she built a retirement plan consulting platform. From there, she founded
the Pension Resource Institute, a nationwide organization supporting more than
40 broker/dealers and registered investment advisers (RIAs) with their ERISA
strategy and compliance.
Bill Chetney, chief
executive of GRPAA, calls Glynn a game changer with depth, intelligence,
experience and the energy the firm needs to continue its commitment to serving
its clients.
Glynn is founding chair of NAPA’s Women’s Advisor Council and
president elect of the Women in Pensions Network, where she developed a national
mentoring program. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and women’s studies
from Colgate University.
NEXT:
Towers Watson
hires three global portfolio managers.
Aongus O’Gorman has
joined Towers Watson in Sydney and
will cover a range of hedge fund and other diversifying strategies. He was
previously managing director of Round Tower Solutions, a boutique consultancy
focused on investment governance, process improvement and product management.
Abbas Alighanbari has
joined the London office, where he will be involved in a range of hedge fund
strategies, initially focusing on long/short equity. Previously, he was at International
Asset Management, where he researched and conducted quantitative and
qualitative analysis on a broad range of hedge fund strategies and assisted in
managing client portfolios totaling $4.1 billion.
Victoria Vodolazschi
will focus on long/short equity, macro and systematic strategies in the New
York City office. She was previously a consulting strategy specialist at PivotalPath,
where she evaluated hedge fund managers and helped build the firm’s investment
and operational due diligence process.
Brad Morrow,
Towers Watson’s Americas region head of manager research, cites the three managers
for their substantial experience.
NEXT: Commonfund names new
chief investment officer.
Commonfund, an investment manager for
endowments, foundations and the public sector, has appointed Mark Anson its newchief investment officer. He will start in January.
Anson
is currently CIO of the Robert Bass Family Office. Previously, he has served as
CIO of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the
British Telecom Pension Scheme and as president of Nuveen Investments.
Anson
will serve on Commonfund’s operating committee and will chair the investment
policy and asset-allocation committees. He will report to Catherine Keating, president and chief executive of Commonfund, who
cites Anson’s track record and experience as an institutional investor. “He has
been both a leader and innovator across asset classes, particularly in
alternative investing,” she says.
Anson
holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and economics from St. Olaf College, as
well as master’s and doctoral degrees in finance from Columbia University, and
a Juris Doctor from Northwestern. He holds designations as a Chartered
Financial Analyst (CFA), Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) and Certified
Public Accountant (CPA). He has published numerous journal articles and
financial textbooks and is the author of the “Handbook of Alternative Assets,”
the textbook used for the CAIA certification program. He serves on the Board of
the CAIA Association and has also served on the CFA Institute Board and the New
York Stock Exchange’s Investor Advisory Board to the Chairman.
NEXT:National
Compliance Services Teams with Regulatory Compliance.
National Compliance
Services Inc. (NCS) and Regulatory
Compliance LLC, two national compliance consulting firms in financial
services, have agreed to merge.
The strategic combination creates a single source of
compliance consulting services and solutions for registered investment advisers
(RIAs) and broker/dealers, among other financial services clients. Both are
privately held companies.
The firms say NCS’s RIA and broker/dealer compliance
consulting, registration services, federal filings services and technology platform
will complement Regulatory Compliance’s consulting and registration services
for RIAs and broker/dealers, FinTrax software, financial operations (FinOp)
support and outsourced chief compliance officer (CCO) services.
Many firms struggle to manage the escalating costs and
complexity of compliance, notes Stephen
Sussman,founder and chief
executive ofRegulatory Compliance. The
merger positions both firms to “offer the broadest set of compliance solutions
and the deepest bench strength of expertise of any single provider.”
Sussman and Rita Dew,
founder and CEO of NCS, will be joint chief executives of the new company,
which will have five offices throughout the country.
As the firms integrate over the next few months,
clients and prospects can continue to interact with each firm. Until the combined
entity decides on a location for its headquarters, NCS will continue operating
from Delray Beach, Florida, and Regulatory Compliance will maintain offices in
New York, Boston and southern New Hampshire.
Charles Humphrey has
joined Integrated Retirement as senior
counsel specializing in Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) matters.
Humphrey, who has more than 30 years’ experience, is tasked with
helping the firm’s clients develop training solutions, and build content and
resources to help expand and support retirement plans in the adviser-sold
market.
Previously, Humphrey held positions as an attorney with both
the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Labor. He also served
as counsel at M&T Bank and its related broker/dealer, where he helped
develop and oversee individual retirement account (IRA) and health savings
account (HSA) products and services. Humphrey has practiced in large law firms and
run his own boutique employee benefits firm. He also served as counsel to
Fiduciary Governance, an ERISA fiduciary responsibility consulting firm, and is
a member of several industry committees and benefit organizations committed to
helping shape policy and foster better benefit plans. Humphrey is the author of
“The Fiduciary Responsibility eSource,” a resource for advisers and plan
sponsors seeking plain language explanations of ERISA fiduciary
responsibilities.
Pam O’Rourke, senior
vice president and principal in charge of training and content services, cites
Humphrey as a recognized industry leader and an expert on a broad range of
employee benefit issues, including ERISA fiduciary responsibilities.
Integrated Retirement provides retirement plan training and
content solutions to financial organizations.
NEXT:TRA integrates with Vertical Management Systems’ platform.
The Retirement
Advantage Inc. (TRA) is the most recent third-party administrator (TPA) to
integrate with the recordkeeping and investment management platform of Vertical Management Systems Inc. (VMS).
With an automated cloud-based recordkeeping platform that
integrates brokerage, trust and custody accounting systems, VMS provides
solutions to address the needs of retirement advisers, plan sponsors and plan
participants. TPAs can offer their services in an integrated fashion to the VMS
community of advisers, plan sponsors and participants.
According toTRA
President Matt Schoneman, the firm’s
advisers have spoken favorably of Retirement Revolution’s ability to facilitate
the provision of individually tailored investment guidance to participants
while providing investment flexibility and full fee transparency to stay
compliant with pending regulatory changes. Integrating with the VMS platform
boosts TRA’s support of advisers and plan sponsors, Schoneman says.
Robert Ward, chief
revenue officer of VMS, describes TRA as a forward-thinking TPA whose
experience, insights and national influence will help to innovate the
Retirement Revolution's next generation retirement solutions.
TRA services more than 4,500 plan sponsors, 300,000 plan
participants, and has $4.5 billion of plan assets under administration.
VMS provides data, financial networking and account
aggregation technology.
Next:
John Hancock names sales VP.
Grant Argall has
been named regional vice president of
John Hancock Retirement Plan Services (JHRPS).
Argall will be in charge of sales and relationship
development with financial representatives and plan consultants in John
Hancock's Midwest unit, with a focus on southern Wisconsin, eastern Iowa and
northwest Illinois. He reports to Kent
Lepard, divisional vice president of the Midwest division.
Argall, who has nearly 15 years of experience in retirement
plans, most recently served as senior sales representative in the retirement
plans division of Principal Financial Group. Bob Carroll, national sales manager, John Hancock RPS, cites
Argall’s retirement experience and extensive knowledge of the region.
Argall holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, as well as his FINRA Series 7 and 63 licenses,
and state insurance licenses in Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois.
NEXT:
Berkeley Capital moves to the Triad Advisors platform.
Berkeley Capital
Partners, an independent hybrid financial advisory firm, has transitioned
to the Triad Advisors Inc. broker/dealer
and hybrid registered investment adviser (RIA) multi-custodial platform.
Berkeley brings client assets of more than $350 million as of September 30 and has
six financial advisers, three with 30 years or more of adviser experience, as
well as a professional operations manager.
Berkeley, based in Norcross, Georgia, offers financial
planning and investment management to individuals, businesses and institutions.
Triad Advisors, based in Atlanta, is a wholly
owned subsidiary of Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc.