Products January 15, 2015

PAi Debuts Co-Pilot 401(k) Program

Plan Administrators Inc. launched the Co-Pilot 401(k) program, aimed at addressing the challenges faced by retirement plan investors and their advice providers.
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Plan Administrators Inc. (PAi), a provider of 401(k) plan administration, says its new Co-Pilot 401(k) program is a full-scope plan offering to help advisers grow their business while guiding existing clients toward a successful retirement.

Co-Pilot 401(k) is designed as an end-to-end plan administration solution that will help advisers expand their retirement practice while managing their clients’ 401(k) plans. The program reduces administrative and management burdens for financial advisers, the firm says, giving them more time to focus on new business growth.

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The solution integrates active recordkeeping with proactive alerts and managed accounts. PAi says the solutions will be particularly effective for micro and small advisory firms looking to grow the retirement plan portion of their businesses.  

“Co-Pilot was designed with financial advisers in mind,” says Michael Kiley, founder of PAi. “Our focus is simplifying plan sales while reducing fiduciary exposure. Co-Pilot’s full-scope solution is the only 401(k) plan that combines managed accounts, participant-level advice, proactive alerts and Years of Retirement, which is a game-changing participant engagement experience.”

Specific features of the program include:

  • Managed accounts with full-service investment selection and monitoring for participants;
  • Plan alerts based on PAi’s proprietary active recordkeeping system, which automatically informs advisers about changing conditions, challenges and opportunities in their plans; and
  • The “Years of Retirement” participant experience, which gives participants an aerial view of their savings goals and shows them how to “buy” more years of retirement without lengthy calculations.

More information about PAi’s Co-Pilot 401(k) program is available at www.pai.com, or by contacting a PAi sales rep. 

Diversions January 15, 2015

The Optimistic Have Healthier Hearts, Survey Says

People with upbeat outlooks enjoy significantly better cardiovascular health, suggests a new study that examined associations between optimism and heart health in more than 5,100 adults.
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Participants’ cardiovascular health was assessed using seven metrics: blood pressure, body mass index, fasting plasma glucose and serum cholesterol levels, dietary intake, physical activity and tobacco use. These are the same measures used by the American Heart Association to assess cardiovascular health.

Researchers allocated 0, 1 or 2 points—for poor, intermediate and ideal scores—to participants on each of the health metrics, which were then summed to arrive at a total score.

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Participants’ total health scores ranged from 0 to 14, with a higher total score indicative of better health.

The participants, who ranged in age from 45 to 84, also completed surveys that assessed their mental health, levels of optimism, and physical health based on self-reported extant medical diagnoses of arthritis, liver disease and kidney disease. The sample was 38% white, 28% African-American, 22% Hispanic/Latino and 12% Asian.

Individuals’ total health scores increased in tandem with their levels of optimism. People who were the most optimistic were 50% and 76% more likely to have total health scores in the intermediate or ideal ranges, respectively.

Other findings were:

  • The association between optimism and cardiovascular health was even stronger when socio-demographic characteristics—age, race and ethnicity, income and education status—were factored in.
  • People who were the most optimistic were twice as likely to have ideal cardiovascular health, and 55% more likely to have a total health score in the intermediate range.
  • Optimists had significantly better blood sugar and total cholesterol levels than their counterparts, were more physically active, had healthier body mass indexes and were less likely to smoke.

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