Products December 8, 2016

RidgeWorth Investments Launches New iPad App

The redesigned iPad app is aimed at putting more tools and resources at financial advisers’ fingertips. 
Reported by

The new RidgeWorth iPad app is designed to give users instant access to RidgeWorth’s most popular tools and resources including expanded fund information.

New segments showcase interactive adviser tools including custom and historical views of performance data; custom folders for frequently accessed information; access to RidgeWorth’s proprietary tools including its benchmarking and plan design tools; and a login section offering detailed firm-specific literature.

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Ian Bachrach, managing director of marketing at RidgeWorth Investments, adds that the app will also support personal branding and business development for retirement industry advisers.

The app can be downloaded free of charge from the Apple App Store.

Products December 8, 2016

NARPP Adding to Universal Retirement Plan Offerings

The non-profit is launching Icon next year, which employers can use to help employees save for retirement.
Reported by

Just as states are jumping in to fill the retirement plan coverage gap, a non-profit organization has announced the launch of a universal retirement plan.

The National Association of Retirement Plan Participants (NARPP) will launch Icon in 2017, a universal retirement plan designed to help the 75 million working Americans who do not have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Icon integrates the best aspects of large employer-sponsored plans—such as low fees and simplified choices—along with complete portability and a well-designed user interface, the firm says.

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NARPP has been working with some of the most respected industry experts, behavioral finance academics and designers to develop the first offering on the Icon platform—a “Smarter IRA” that will voluntarily default people into a target-date fund (TDF) that is based on the saver’s age. NARPP has negotiated with asset managers to provide institutional pricing, which means people using Icon will pay significantly less than average retail fees on an IRA.

NARPP offers behaviorally effective communications that lead to increased levels of trust, deeper engagement and increased savings rates. Icon is a sustainable and scalable offering that makes it easier to save more, making it more likely that people will be better prepared for retirement.

Icon has been designed for independent contractors and ‘gig workers,’ people who work for an employer that doesn’t offer a plan, as well as employers who don’t offer a plan but want to help their employees save for retirement. With a five-dollar per month membership fee, people will have access to an experience that provides enhanced features such as personalized information, curated and unbiased financial information, a community of mentors and peers, live education events, and access to Icon. The membership fee can be paid by the individual or by employers on behalf of their employees.

“Icon represents a new model—it is the first fully comprehensive retirement savings system,” according to Warren Cormier of NARPP. “Icon encompasses all major components of a successful retirement journey—accumulation, portability, quality and transparency, along with fairly priced funds and behaviorally effective communications that motivate people to save.”

More about NARPP can be found at www.NARPP.org.

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