Products September 19, 2008

SunGard Beefs Up Omni Voice Authentication Element

SunGard is extending and refining the voice authentication capability in its Omni 401(k) platform to help cut the risk of unauthorized access to personal information.
Reported by

Omni is incorporating IBM’s Web-based Speaker Verification (SV) and IBM Websphere Voice Server (WVS) for voice authentication into its Intervoice IVR/voice portal solution, giving its customers the ability to authenticate someone’s identity based on their unique voice print.

IBM’s speaker verification is Web-based, which allows the Omni IVR application the ability to use the new speaker verification engine. Intervoice added IBM’s technology to its portfolio in March and SunGard integrated the capability into Omni to enhance security and provide two-factor authentication for its telephony callers.

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.

“The addition of IBM speech solutions to the Intervoice IVR in SunGard’s Omni retirement platform provides our customers an important opportunity to enhance the way they address privacy and security concerns in offering participant access to retirement plan data,” said Don Mackanos, president of SunGard’s Benefits Administration business, in a news release.

More information is available at www.sungard.com.

Deals & People September 18, 2008

Market Turmoil Sparks Putnam Fund Shuttering

Faced with extraordinary market volatility, the Board of Trustees closed the institutional Putnam Prime Money Market Fund, effective Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Reported by

A news release by the Boston-based Putnam said the move was sparked by events Wednesday.”Serious constraints on liquidity in money market instruments created the risk that in order to process redemptions, the fund would realize losses in selling its portfolio securities,” Putnam said. “In the face of these challenges, the Trustees determined to close the fund to ensure equitable treatment of all fund shareholders.”

The company said the fund had no exposure to the financial services companies at the heart of the Wall Street turmoil, including Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual.

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

Putnam contended that the route it has taken “ensures an orderly distribution of assets in light of the current unusual market conditions and treats all shareholders in an equitable manner.”

Putnam and the Trustees are working to develop a detailed plan of distribution, with the goal of providing shareholders with the opportunity to receive distributions as expeditiously as possible, depending on market conditions.

The investment manager said the fund intends to provide more information about the asset distribution plan.

«