Hot off the Presses
Participant and Sponsor Tools
BlackRock Inc. expanded its CoRI retirement suite with income projection and portfolio allocation analysis tools. A clear translation between retirement savings and estimated annual retirement income can help pre-retirees identify savings and investment strategies to plan for income goals in retirement.
Designed to help participants drive higher levels of plan success, Prudential Retirement’s new technology tools utilize the principles of data visualization, behavioral finance and gamification to enhance retirement outcomes. The updates include an expanded Prudential retirement income calculator and the introduction of the Day One Achievement Meter.
Enroll Now from Vanguard simplifies retirement plan enrollment online and potentially increases savings for participants by asking them to make just three decisions: their savings amount, whether or not to increase that amount annually, and their investment choice. Suggestions are determined by the employer and are pre-populated onto a simple, interactive form. Employees can select or modify the options, or bypass Enroll Now and use the traditional enrollment.
Morningstar Inc. rolled out Morningstar Manager Research Services to help institutional investors with research due diligence as they evaluate funds, strategies and asset management firms. Subscribers receive research, software, tools and analysts’ fund ratings based on Morningstar’s data universe of more than 170,000 funds. Research analysts’ insights are offered by phone, email or in person.
Invesco updated its DC [Defined Contribution] Plan Analyzer application (app) with detailed cost benchmarking capabilities. Users can see what similar-sized plans pay for services—from investments to recordkeeping to third-party administration—based on data for account values and participant demographics. The DC Plan Analyzer’s document “briefcase” emails customized reports with clients’ names and information, and also can store searches and data.
Plan sponsors should offer a greater variety of target-date fund (TDF) glide path options to meet participants’ differing needs, whether they prefer do-it-for-me or a more active role, Transamerica Retirement Solutions states in a white paper. “Customized Glide Path and Portfolio Construction” recommends an open-architecture approach that allows sponsors and advisers to build their glide path from scratch or use a pre-constructed one.
A planning service from Financial Engines helps near-retirees maximize retirement income by showing them how to get the most out of Social Security by using the right strategy. It also factors in multiple income sources and realistic life expectancies, and converts savings from a 401(k) or an individual retirement account (IRA) into income to help defer Social Security. Users can consider different scenarios and receive a personalized retirement income plan.
J.P. Morgan Retirement Link introduced an application (app) for Apple and Android devices. The portal gives plan participants mobile access to key account data and retirement planning tools, including retirement income projections and gap analyses. Participants can use the app to check account balances, contribution rates and investment allocations, or to access the full site for more advanced transaction capabilities.
Adviser Tools
Cambridge Investment Research Inc. partnered with the 401k Study Group to expand education and networking resources for the 2,500 members of its advisory and broker/dealer (B/D) staff through the Study Group’s digital platform. The medium works like a social network that connects and promotes communication between industry members.
The revamped Target Date Compass Program from J.P. Morgan Asset Management has a more intuitive design, expanded investment analytics, simplified charts and a tablet-friendly interface to help financial advisers steer plan sponsors through the increasingly complex target-date-fund (TDF) selection process.
A new portal and integrated business consulting process from First Allied Securities Inc. expands the firm’s suite of practice management tools and services. The Pentameter portal has a centralized reporting dashboard that enables both fee- and commission-based independent advisers to leverage the right resources after assessing business development, operational efficiency, human capital, business management and succession planning. Features include quantitative tools, white papers, best-practice guides and practice management templates.
Advisers can address diverse customized investment mandates, such as affordable housing and climate change, with the open-architecture Impact Investing Solutions platform from Envestnet Inc. The revamped tool, with 17 personal conviction screens, gives access to model portfolios, specialist advice and digital socially responsible investing (SRI) portfolio-building tools to assist retirement plan clients that want to develop SRI programs.
A new application (app) from Thomson Reuters gives retirement plan advisers access to real-time market information and client account data through Thomson ONE Anywhere. Features include Reuters news content, performance charting, account trading capabilities, and tools to generate proposals and model portfolios. The app, for Apple and Android devices, is available on Thomson’s website.
Investments
The PowerShares Variable Rate Preferred Portfolio (VRP) from Invesco PowerShares Capital Management aims to provide efficient exposure to a portfolio of variable-rate preferred securities. These investments offer the potential for higher income and less interest-rate risk than fixed-rate preferred securities in this current market rate environment, thereby helping investors meet their risk and return objectives, the company says.
Invesco’s SVAnalyzer evaluates 10 critical factors, in comparing stable value investments. Each characteristic can be weighted, given its importance according to the user’s own ranking. Data come from a request for information (RFI), which is more streamlined than a request for proposals (RFP). The tool is free for Invesco’s defined contribution investment only (DCIO) clients.
T. Rowe Price introduced the Credit Opportunities Fund, which seeks to identify compelling opportunities across the credit landscape and capital structure. A relatively concentrated portfolio will be composed of the investment team’s highest-conviction ideas for generating total return. The fund is expected to be volatile, with greater risk than a typical high-yield fund.
J.P. Morgan released its first exchange-traded fund (ETF), the JPMorgan Diversified Return Global Equity (JPGE) ETF, which seeks global equity returns with reduced volatility through region and sector diversification. The ETF will track the FTSE Developed Diversified Factor Index, which uses a multi-factor approach to select securities based on relative valuation, price momentum, low volatility and size, rather than traditional weighting by market-capitalization, a strategy known as strategic or smart beta.
MFS Investment Management introduced the MFS Managed Wealth Fund, a flexible equity fund that offers broad global equity exposure with an eye toward lowering volatility. The fund, available in R1 to R4 share classes, is part of MFS’s suite of outcome-oriented funds for investors and advisers who look for market exposure with strong equity diversification and risk-management characteristics.