Hot off the Presses
PLAN SPONSOR & PARTICIPANT TOOLS
BrightScope said its new Personal 401k Fee Report product allows 401(k) plan participants to figure out what they pay in fees. Participants are told whether their fees are higher than average compared to a low-cost IRA and given projected savings of opening an IRA account.
ftwilliam.com has released its EFAST2 Form 5500 software, including a Web portal for the new EFAST2 e-filing requirement. The portal enables form signers to view draft 5500 filings, upload attachments, edit the filing, and sign and submit filings directly to the U.S. Department of Labor (DoL).
Putnam Investmentshas introduced a new online tool and Web site to help retirement plan participants determine how much monthly retirement income their savings will allow. Putnam’s Lifetime Income Analysis Tool is designed to help the company’s 401(k) plan participants project how much income their retirement savings may generate in retirement, compared with what they may need and, if a savings shortfall is estimated, offer actionable next steps.
The Principal said its benefits best practices guide tells how The Principal 10 Best Companies for Employee Financial Security 2009 remained committed to strong employee benefits. It can serve as a benchmarking chart for advisers to compare benefits with those of The Principal 10 Best Companies and national averages.
The Guardian Insurance & Annuity Company, Inc., announced that two of its group retirement products—The Guardian Choice and The Guardian Advantage—can be used now to fund cash balance plans.
TIAA-CREF introduced its Signature-Ready Form 5500 Preparation Service, in collaboration with Deloitte. The service is designed to help ERISA-governed 403(b) plan sponsors address their plan’s financial reporting obligations, and is designed to help clients improve efficiency, manage costs, and support compliance with reporting obligations.
The Value Quotientannounced the release of CLIENTconnect, fiduciary management solutions delivered by financial advisers to their 401(k) and 403(b) clients. CLIENTconnect offers templates that facilitate risk management, expense management, and plan utilization, the company said.
The Principal Financial Group has released two online tools to help plan sponsors file their Form 5500 reports with the DoL. The firm said the Consolidated Disclosure Tool helps large-plan filers (100 or more participants) meet the eligible indirect compensation requirement, and the Data Collection Tool has been updated to help plan sponsors comply with the new requirement to file forms electronically through the EFAST2 filing system.
The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., is expanding its product offerings to include 403(b) retirement programs for nonprofit organizations serviced by third-party administrators (TPAs). The Hartford’s PASSport program, which provides administrative and recordkeeping services to 401(k) plans through TPAs, is being expanded to include 403(b) retirement plan sponsors with less than $5 million in assets under management.
Blue Prairie Group is launching its proprietary Fiduciary-based Investment Consulting report. A part of the report called the Blue Prairie Group Smartcard combines quantitative data and qualitative analysis to give plan fiduciaries a sense of how their investments are doing relative to the monitoring benchmarks established in their investment policy statement.
Newkirk unveiled a suite of retirement readiness communications and reports. According to the firm, the services include targeted participant communications identifying possible shortfalls in retirement income that also suggest corrective steps, sponsor reports identifying shortfalls on a participant-by-participant basis, and tools enabling providers and sponsors to analyze deficiencies by demographic segments.
Invesco launched a Web site www.invesco.com/dc, featuring educational resources to meet the needs of U.S. defined contribution plan sponsors, consultants, recordkeepers, and advisers.
Lincoln National Corporation said it has enhanced its Lincoln Unifier service offering to further help employers comply with the new 403(b) regulations. Through the new transaction-monitoring feature, plan sponsors can assign 403(b) transaction compliance review to vendors; monitor vendor transactions and compliance via online reports; and achieve real-time transaction review across the plan.
USI Consulting Group has introduced a new EFAST2 Solution to assist its Direct Solutions clients in meeting DoL-mandated Form 5500 electronic filing requirements. The offering is part of the suite of defined contribution plan services provided through USI’s Direct Solutions bundled service program.
PlanTools, LLC, has introduced an expanded suite of online tools that automates the production of data for inclusion in the DoL’s required Schedule C reporting. PlanTools incorporates the 58 different Schedule C codes into the expense analysis and benchmarking system to enable service providers to identify, calculate, and report service provider fees efficiently, the firm said.
Wealth Management Systems Inc. (WMSI) now offers Roth IRAs to participants rolling over their retirement savings. Through WMSI’s IRA Marketplace, participants can open Roth IRAs online and coordinate the direct transfer of their savings to the provider of their choice, according to the company.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch is introducing a tool to its 401(k) plan sponsor clients designed to monitor and score the “financial wellness” of employees enrolled in their plans. The Financial Wellness Monitor calculates an overall Financial Wellness Score indicating to employers whether their employees are exhibiting behaviors within their retirement plan that may lead to successful long-term savings.
MassMutual’s Retirement Services Division plans to introduce its new RetireSmart participant statement later this year. In addition to a front-page activity summary and investment performance data, new detail requested by participants has been added about contributions, account activity, and beneficiaries.
ADVISER TOOLS
AXA Distributors, LLC, now offers an educational program about retirement income planning for financial professionals. AXA’s program, “Cracking the Code: Unlock the Secrets of Retirement Income Planning,” which combines live presentations with self-study materials, is approved for continuing professional education credit in 49 states, the company said.
Commonwealth Financial Network announced enhancements to its fee-based asset management program for separately managed accounts (SMAs), including a new unified managed account (UMA) option. In addition to the UMA option, the firm said it now will provide access to SMA features, including additional managers, simplified rebalancing, all-inclusive pricing, and a proposal system.
New York Life Insurance Company has tapped Ibbotson Associates to help develop a set of tools “to help registered representatives account for their clients’ total economic wealth and optimize their portfolios by making insurance and investment decisions together.” The system includes the Protection Solution Decision Model (PSDM), which produces the life insurance recommendation for the client, determining the economically optimal type of life insurance product based on the client’s specific profile, including their risk tolerance.
Putnam Investmentslaunched a Roth IRA Conversion Resource Center for financial advisers. The Resource Center includes information about traditional IRA conversions, how to evaluate whether they make sense, what investors should consider before converting, and how Putnam can help advisers have the Roth IRA conversion conversation with their clients, the company said.
FCRC Apps, LLC, announced the release of version 2.0 of its Web-based application, eFiduciary.net, a fiduciary governance tool introduced in 2005 for consultants and their investment fiduciary clients. The product provides, among other things, real-time committee collaboration, document retention and retrieval, and a variety of consultant practice management tools, according to the firm.
Nuveen Investments unveiled its online 2010 Roth IRA Conversion Center for advisers and investors. The company said the center lays out an educational plan of action for advisers preparing their clients for the Roth IRA conversion option.
BPAS added to its Partner Toolbox. The enhancements include a search feature allowing users to browse the 185 pieces and tools available and a “Partner Training Sessions” tab, which will provide ongoing training and insights for financial intermediary partners, using PowerPoint and Brainshark presentations and podcasts.
The Hartford Financial Services Group has launched a new search engine, which it said is designed to help financial advisers target potential sponsor clients. The directory, a tool available through Larkspur, which uses Form 5500 data, enables financial advisers to target market-specific types of businesses or businesses within specific industries, according to The Hartford.
Archimedes Systems, Inc., and Convergent Retirement Plan Solutions LLC announced the launch of RothProfessional.com, a Web portal to aid advisers with Roth individual retirement account (IRA) conversions. The firms said the site provides financial advisers access to the Roth Conversion Optimizer and a library of source documents related to the pertinent laws, regulations, and rulings concerning Roth IRA conversions and the 2010 Roth IRA conversion changes.
INVESTMENTS
Three firms—ETF Advisor k, LLC, Target Date Analytics LLC, and 7Twelve Advisors, LLC—have combined forces to offer target-date and composite-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) models for qualified plans, based on the BrightScope On Target Models methodology.
Transamerica Life Insurance Company introduced an enhanced withdrawal schedule for its Retirement Income Choice 1.2 and Retirement Income Choice 1.4 riders. New clients between ages 65 to 74 who begin taking withdrawals can now receive up to 5% of their withdrawal base annually for life, and those ages 75 and older can receive up to 6% of their withdrawal base.
Great-West Retirement Services has introduced a new set of guaranteed income investment options. SecureFoundation includes a portfolio of lifetime asset allocation funds and a balanced portfolio. Plan sponsors can include one or both of these guaranteed income investment options, and can select one of them as the qualified default investment alternative for their plan.
AllianceBernstein said in early April it will add a Volatility Management component to its Retirement Strategies target-date mutual funds. The component is designed to “reduce the market risk of the funds during periods of extreme volatility,” according to the firm.
CUNA Mutual Group has launched a fully guaranteed stable value account designed for 401(k) plans. The Guaranteed Account will be available to plans sold by broker/dealers who work with CUNA Mutual.
INVESTMENT BENCHMARKING
Dow Jones Indexes has updated its Dow Jones Target Date index series with the Dow Jones U.S. Target Date 2055 and the Dow Jones Global Target Date 2055 Indexes.