Products October 1, 2009

New Commonwealth Platform Lets Advisers Pick Provider

Commonwealth Financial Network introduced a “vendor-agnostic,” fee-based retirement platform.

Reported by

The firm’s Retirement Plan Consulting program provides advisers universal access to the retirement marketplace and enables them to offer advice to both plan sponsors and participants, according to Commonwealth, independent broker/dealer–registered independent adviser (RIA) supporting 1,200 independent advisers nationwide.

To participate in the program, advisers need to hold either the Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) designation or the Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist (CRPS) designation.

The platform is supported by Commonwealth’s Retirement Consulting Services (RCS) team, a group of professionals accredited with qualified plan designations. The RCS team conducts due diligence on 34 intermediary-based providers; however, advisers can work on a consulting basis with any provider of their choice, the firm said.

Consulting services offered through the program include:

  • fiduciary management and oversight
  • investment policy statement support
  • investment selection analysis
  • model portfolio construction and maintenance
  • vendor search and benchmarking projects
  • participant education program design and implementation
  • participant advice programs.

“We’ve built a conflict-free, unbiased approach that is truly aligned with fiduciary standards and provides full transparency of fee disclosure,” said Amy Glynn, Commonwealth’s director of retirement consulting services. “Commonwealth feels that this is the right model for all constituents.”


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Deals & People October 1, 2009

Lewis to Exit BofA

Kenneth D. Lewis, Bank of America Corp. CEO and president, announced he will resign by year-end.

Reported by

Bank of America said the bank’s board will search for a successor, with plans to name that successor by the time Lewis leaves.

Criticized for his handling of the Merrill Lynch acquisition (see “Bank of America Buys Merrill Lynch“) , Lewis had also come under fire in trying to finalize a settlement with the SEC over bonuses paid to Merrill executives (see “It’s a No-Go for BofA Settlement with SEC” and “BofA Fires Back at Cuomo“).

“The next great set of challenges for our company—executing across our businesses to achieve our potential, and imagining how our company must continue to evolve to meet the changing demands of the global marketplace—are for our next chief executive officer, and for our executive management team, which I know is capable of rising to any challenge. I now have a strong sense that the work that has consumed me for the past eight years is largely finished, and that it is time for a new leader to take on new challenges with all of you,” Lewis wrote in a letter, published by The Wall Street Journal.





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