Deals & People August 4, 2009

Franklin Templeton Snatches Ahmed From Columbia Funds

Franklin Templeton Investments has lured Yaqub Ahmed from his post at Columbia Funds.

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Ahmed will join the firm as Investment-Only Division Head, responsible for defined contribution (DC) and variable annuity (VA) investment-only (IO) sales platforms. Based in St. Petersburg, Florida, Ahmed will report to Robert Geppner, senior vice president and national sales manager for U.S. Advisory Services. He will lead a dedicated team of wholesalers focusing on the IO business, according to the announcement. 

Ahmed, who has over 15 years of experience in financial services, most recently served as managing director and national sales manager for Columbia Management’s investment-only division. Prior to that, he was managing director and national sales manager for Trustar Retirement Services, Inc. and has held positions at MFS Retirement Services, Inc. and Pruco Securities, Inc. 

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“Franklin Templeton is committed to strengthening its presence in the DC and VA investment-only businesses,” said Geppner. “Yaqub Ahmed brings a tremendous amount of experience to his new role and will leverage Franklin Templeton’s strength in these growing markets.” 

Franklin Templeton manages approximately $45 billion in DC and VA assets, according to the announcement.  The San Mateo, California-based firm A-based company has more than 60 years of investment experience and over $451 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2009. For more information, please call (800) DIAL BEN� or visit franklintempleton.com.

Products August 4, 2009

Brinker to Roll Out Distribution Strategy for Retirement Spending

Brinker Capital announced plans to launch its Personalized Distribution Strategy, a systematic approach to retirement spending and investing.

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The product will launch toward the end of the third quarter of 2009, and is intended to enable advisers to support clients’ short- and long-term retirement spending needs, according to a Brinker news release.

The strategy consists of two elements: a Cash Liquidity Reserve and a Brinker Destinations portfolio. The Cash Liquidity Reserve consists of 18 months of cash, from which the client can begin drawing immediately. As the cash balance is lowered by the client’s monthly withdrawals, Brinker Capital will automatically sweep in additional cash generated from its investments in dividend- and income-producing mutual funds, the company said.

Brinker said a stop-loss of six months of cash will be maintained so that, regardless of market conditions, the liquidity cash reserve will be replenished. If for any reason the cash reserve falls below the stop-loss floor, Brinker will automatically refill it by modestly trimming some of the strategies’ holdings. Conversely, when the markets are outperforming, Brinker will increase the cash reserve.

The remainder of the client’s retirement assets will be placed in one of Brinker’s Destinations portfolios, Brinker’s investment management program that provides mutual fund asset allocation strategies based on an investor’s risk tolerance, retirement time horizon, and financial goals.

Quarterly, Brinker Capital will provide advisers with a spending report to share with clients, detailing: withdrawals over the past trailing 12 months, withdrawals as a percentage of total cash in reserve, principal spent to date, and estimated number of years left before the portfolio is depleted.
 
Beyond this, Brinker Capital has created a spending policy with the ultimate intention of allowing a client to maintain their spending, the company said. Advisers will have access to a set of endowment-like spending rules that focus on maintaining principal while also achieving stable income from the portfolio.

“We’ve systematized the Personalized Distribution Strategy to the point where, if advisers and their clients use our tools and follow the spending policy, the portfolio should meet the client’s spending needs,” said Noreen Beaman, principal at Brinker Capital. “Barring any unforeseen, major spending needs, our modeling shows little reason to sell out from the portfolio, ensuring a constant flow of cash into the liquidity reserve.”

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