Hot Off the Presses

Art by Courtney Menard

Participant and Sponsor Tools 
BB&T Retirement and Institutional Services developed a rollover servicing platform to expand distribution and rollover services for retirement plan participants. The platform, dubbed Rollover Central, provides participants with educational content and seamless distribution and rollover services at the plan level. Participants can explore rollover solutions and work with experienced BB&T investment advisers, who will help them make selections based on their unique profiles and investment needs. Rollover Central is integrated within BB&T’s recordkeeping system.

MassMutual has created a new benefits guidance tool, MapMyBenefits, to provide each employee with a customized needs analysis and recommendations, based on information about his personal situation in terms of retirement savings, health care coverage and insurance protection.

A white paper from Prudential Retirement, “Preparing for Pension Risk Transfer,” outlines steps plan sponsor clients can take in advance of making that transaction. Prudential says a surge in high-profile pension buyouts may prompt more plan sponsors to consider what a pension risk transfer (PRT) could do for their defined benefit (DB) plan. 

LifeLock, a provider of identity theft protection, has created a product specifically to protect 401(k) investors from fraudulent withdrawals and transfers, as well as from identity theft to obtain loans, credit or services. Called LifeLock Benefit Elite, the service is available through employers and brokers and is funded through payroll deduction at a competitive price, the company says.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has introduced the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Longevity Training Program, for use by human resources (HR) and benefit plan professionals. Developed in partnership with the University of Southern California’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, the program is designed to drive greater awareness and understanding of the evolving needs of the nation’s aging population and their families. It also offers insights into the latest advances, research and experiences associated with the sociological, psychological and physiological aspects of aging, and discusses issues associated with longevity and retirement planning.

ForUsAll launched  a simplified, automated 401(k) plan aimed at small-business owners. Plan operations are handled by technology, which, for example, performs 3(16) and 3(38) fiduciary services such as filling in the Form 5500, reviewing it, signing it and submitting it for the employer. The auto-401(k) plugs into most existing payroll providers, letting the sponsor delegate day-to-day responsibility for plan administration.

To help plan sponsors assist their employees who are nearing or in retirement, Cowden Associates created ComprehensiveCast, a service to help employers guide current and future retirees through the complicated world of retiree medical and Social Security optimization strategies. The Retirement ComprehensiveCast tool portrays customized, estimated “all-in” retiree medical costs, an overview of benefit plan options available, and Social Security optimization strategies, in a holistic approach to assist in achieving financial stability in retirement.

Adviser Tools 
A paper from the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA) outlines best practices for promoting retirement readiness in the defined contribution (DC) plan context. In “Defined Contribution Plan Success Factors: Framework for Plans With an Objective of Retirement Income Adequacy,” the association addresses specific factors related to plan design, investment structure and plan monitoring.

Fidelity Investments has launched Third-Party Fiduciary Services, a program to help retirement plan advisers and sponsors with selecting and monitoring investments. Users have a choice of three support providers through the Fidelity program: Mesirow Financial, Morningstar Associates and Wilshire Associates.

Manning & Napier developed QDIA Sync, a free tool to help advisers consider a retirement plan’s demographics when selecting a target-date fund (TDF). The tool asks advisers to answer questions in five categories: participants’ savings levels; average age; other potential retirement income; behavior, in terms of when they are most likely to exit the target-date fund; and risk.

Paycor premiered a 360-degree 401(k) administration service designed to simplify plan management for retirement plan advisers, sponsors, brokers and third-party administrators (TPAs). Built on its cloud-based human resources (HR) platform, the service automatically sends employees’ retirement information from payroll to the 401(k) provider, reducing the potential for errors while minimizing administrative effort. It also allows participants to make changes directly to their  plan without filing paperwork.

The Fiduciary Responsibility eSource on ERISApedia.com has been expanded with new forms that guide retirement plan officials through key administration processes. ERISA-pedia.com’s searchable database now contains a suite of forms that advisers can use to efficiently manage 401(k) and 403(b) plan responsibilities.

Hartford Funds now offers “Summer School”— eight videos moderated by its practice management executives and Joseph Coughlin, director of the MIT AgeLab, to educate financial advisers about issues important to clients today. The first video, “The New Role of the Financial Adviser,” addresses how those professionals can help investors holistically by understanding their individual goals.

Investments 
A multi-manager target-date series from AllianceBernstein, co-managed by Morningstar Associates, invests in funds overseen by several experienced investment managers, including AQR, Franklin Templeton, MFS and T. Rowe Price. AllianceBernstein designs and manages the series’ moderate-risk glide path, adjusting asset-class exposures as market conditions change, and provides overall program oversight. The funds seek to reduce risk and generate uncorrelated returns. Morningstar selects funds from the broad offerings of each participating firm.

Pensionmark Financial Group introduced a suite of custom target-date funds (TDFs), the Pensionmark SmartLifecycle Funds. The funds were created by Wilmington Trust, which will act as trustee, and BlackRock will manage the portfolios and their glide paths. The goal of the funds is to provide returns in line with market indexes but with a lower risk profile.

UBS Global Asset Management is launching a target-date collective investment trust (CIT) product line for qualified retirement plans. UBS Global Asset Management Trust Co. (UBS), a member of the UBS Global Asset Management division of UBS Group AG, will run the products. The CITs seek to track the performance of the Morningstar Lifetime Allocation Indexes.

Executive Moves 
Independent advisory firm Arnerich Massena promoted Jacob O’Shaughnessy to senior consultant, to take on strategic leadership for the firm’s retirement plan services team in both the corporate and public plan markets.

The Beacon Group of Companies hired Mark Schatzel as vice president of retirement sales, a role in which he will help business owners and executive staff improve their retirement plans.

EPIC Advisors, a recordkeeping and retirement consulting firm, has promoted Manuel Marques to president, from director of sales and strategic partnerships.