Products October 18, 2012

ETF Education Website Developed

The Investment Company Institute (ICI) and exchange-traded fund (ETF) firms developed a website to answer questions investors have before they invest in ETFs.
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The site, www.UnderstandETFs.org, contains educational resources for ETF investors, including a Q&A designed to help investors better understand the basics of ETF investing, as well as links to additional ETF resources.

The combined assets of the nation’s ETFs were $1.2 trillion in August 2012 and represent a growing category of funds in the U.S. and abroad, ICI said. “Independent studies continue to show ETF usage is on the rise as more investors experience their many advantages, so we are pleased to join industry providers and ICI in launching this comprehensive investor education program,” commented Ben Fulton, managing director of Global ETFs for Invesco PowerShares.

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“Today’s investors are looking for new ways to build better portfolios and they are increasingly turning to ETFs,” said Michael L. Sapir, chief executive officer of ProShare Advisors LLC. “Our ability to come together as an industry to offer them educational resources is timely and important. All of us have a stake in ensuring investors have the knowledge and know-how they need to invest in ETFs with confidence to achieve their financial goals.”

Products October 18, 2012

American Funds Offers Advisers More Choices

Financial advisers now have greater flexibility and more choice when offering clients retirement plan solutions from American Funds.
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In addition to the American Funds Target Date Retirement Series, advisers and plan sponsors have the added flexibility to choose from among a variety of fund families. “Advisers now have flexibility to offer plan sponsors and participants a broad menu of fund choices without requiring a minimum number of American Funds beyond the target-date default options when they convert to an American Funds solution,” said Bill Anderson, director of retirement plan business at American Funds.

This option is also available for plans converting from one American Funds solution to another, Anderson added. Assets in existing plan investments must be transferred to the American Funds Target Date Retirement Series, which becomes the plan’s default option. But participants then are free to transfer their balances from the target-date funds and to direct new contributions to any fund available in the plan.

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American Funds investment professionals actively manage the Target Date Fund’s portfolio, moving it from a more growth-oriented strategy to a more income-oriented focus as the fund gets closer to its target date. The American Funds retirement plan solutions that offer this approach include Recordkeeper Direct (multi-fund), PlanPremier and PlanPremier TPA.

“We think plan participants and sponsors alike will welcome this option because each participant’s assets are transferred directly into an age-appropriate, well-diversified fund-of-funds that automatically adjusts the allocation as the retirement date nears,” Anderson said.

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