• Exclusive Online Only Content
• Free Daily Email News Alerts
• Asset Management Blogs

Retirement

Tear a Page From the AARP/Today Show Playbook

March 8, 2010 - America has yet to witness the tremendous societal transformation retiring Boomers will have, as the oldest is a mere 64 and the youngest, 46. But we are beginning to see signs of the tsunami-sized impact this army of 77 million will have on the workplace, the economy, healthcare and even the arts and entertainment. AARP has just formed a timely, unbelievably beneficial partnership with NBC's "Today Show." Beginning tomorrow, March 9, the No. 1 morning news program that reaches 5.9 million viewers a day, is bringing back former Emmy Award-winning host Jane Pauley to produce and report a monthly segment called, "Your Life Calling."

Fear of Investment Losses Could Take Serious Toll on Retirement

March 8, 2010 - AXA Equitable uncovered a dismal outlook for the economy and retirement in "Retirement in America: A Survey of Concerns and Expectations," in which it polled both investors and economists and found a large percentage of both groups bearish on the economy and the stock and bond markets. Twenty-four percent of consumers and 12% of economists believe the economy will continue to be volatile with no clear pattern of improvement. Eleven percent of consumers and 16% of economists believe the nation could sink back into a recession.

Sidestepping Skepticism, Prudential Scores with VAs

March 1, 2010 - Bruce Ferris, senior vice president of sales and distribution for Prudential Annuities, he has heard all the objections from wholesalers and advisers concerning variable annuities. The investment community complains that the products are too expensive or too complicated, but Ferris is certain that even though VA assets under management declined over the past two years, "they aren't going away." In fact, he said the attitude about variable annuities is beginning to change.

Kalamarides Seeks Risk Disclosure for Target-Date Funds

February 15, 2010 - Fund managers should consider improving target-date fund disclosure to better align these products with the individual risk tolerance of investors, particularly in light of increased regulatory scrutiny over the performance of these funds in 2008, a retirement income expert says.Jamie Kalamarides, senior vice president of retirement solutions at Prudential Retirement, recently spoke with Money Management Executive about improvements to the retirement income product lineup, annuity wrappers for 401(k) plans and multi-employer savings plans for small businesses.

Estate Tax Expiration Reveals Opportunities

February 8, 2010 - NEW YORK - Financial experts think 2010 could provide many interesting opportunities in the realm of wealth transference, particularly with the temporary, one-year expiration of the federal estate tax and reduction of the gift tax.Thanks to the expiration of the estate tax on Jan. 1, beneficiaries of people who die this year don't have to pay federal taxes on inherited estates. Unless Congress takes action this year, the tax will be reinstated in 2011 to 2001 levels of a $1 million exemption and 55% tax rate above that. President Barack Obama has proposed reinstating the tax at 2009 levels of 45% on anything above $3.5 million, possibly retroactively.

Extreme Makeover: 401(k) Edition

February 8, 2010 - Investors are about to test drive 401(k) plans with a 21st Century whole new look and feel.The Department of Labor is promising streamlined rules for 401(k) advice that plan sponsors may actually use (see "Week in Review," page 4). The government is looking into the possibility of offering annuities or other lifetime income options in defined contribution plans.

403(b) Group Seeks Common Language

February 8, 2010 - An industry group developing best practices for 403(b) retirement plans is coming closer to streamlining these plans to make them even more similar to 401(k) plans, but first they will have to get everyone to agree to speak the same language.Leaders say the SPARK Institute's work on 403(b) best practices is coming along smoothly, thanks to the cooperative efforts of approximately 50 participating institutions. The latest update, version 1.04, fixes many of these communication issues by requiring a standardized reporting format, which it hopes most institutions will adopt by this July.

Putnam Calculator Directs 401(k) Investors to Retirement Income

February 1, 2010 - NEW YORK -- Online retirement calculators are usually so confusing or overwhelming that the average plan participant logs in, checks their account balance and then logs off without making any changes. Putnam Investments has developed a new retirement income twist it hopes will resonate with investors, plan sponsors and financial advisers. "Complexity leads to inactivity," said Edmund Murphy, managing director and head of defined contribution at Putnam, at a presentation at the Four Seasons Hotel last week. "Participants find it hard to see how their balance turns into retirement income. They are told they need to save millions, and they just give up and turn off instead."

Merrill Runs $20 Million 'help2retire___' Campaign

February 1, 2010 - Bank of America's Merrill Lynch Wealth Management has launched a new U.S. marketing campaign, "help2retire___," to illustrate individuals' evolving retirement priorities and personal aspirations. Budgeted at $20 million, it launched last Monday and is scheduled to run through the end of April on broadcast network and national cable TV, as well as print and online consumer and trade magazines, including sister publication Financial Planning.

Obama Proposals Could Boost Annuity Sales

February 1, 2010 - To help the middle-class save for retirement, President Obama may have also given a boost to the annuities sector.Last Monday, Obama proposed a series of measures, including expanding existing tax credits for child care and retirement savings, and providing financial relief for families caring for children and the elderly.The White House also plans to promote "the availability of annuities and other forms of guaranteed lifetime income, which transform savings into guaranteed future income, reducing the risks that retirees will outlive their savings or that their retirees' living standards will be eroded by investment losses or inflation."

New Financial Regulations to Create Unprecedented 'Sea Change' at SEC

January 25, 2010 - BOSTON -- Mutual fund companies must stay on top of their compliance programs, particularly because Congress is likely to pass new financial regulations, executives warn. "Regulation writing is about resolving tensions and balancing purposes,' said Michael Novey, associate tax legislative counsel at the Office of Tax Policy at the Department of Treasury. "Our task is to implement legislative purpose, recognizing that Congress' acts ought to be workable. There is a tremendous amount of misunderstanding about many of the proposed regulations."

C- Grade is Nothing To Crow About for 401(k)s

January 18, 2010 - The mutual fund industry should proudly celebrate Americans' 73% approval rating for 401(k)s, according to an Investment Company Institute report, "Enduring Confidence in the 401(k) System." In our book, a 73% rating equals a C- grade that, in fact, should be a wake-up call for the industry to do a far better job of equipping Americans to adequately prepare for a decent and healthy life in their old age.

Wholesalers Adapt to Advisers' Changing Needs

January 18, 2010 - The fundamentals of what advisers need from wholesalers are changing, and wholesalers have no choice but to adapt. Our research at kasina concludes that wholesalers should focus on serving advisers' needs for: *Better products and solutions for clients (advisers rate performance/risk/correlation at 7-8 on a 10 point scale of importance, well above other factors); *Improving their insights and context (news and market commentary trails only product info as a reason advisers visit asset manager websites); and, *Ideas and best practices to help build their businesses (the importance of which has jumped enormously in the last two years).

ICI Study Finds 401(k) Confidence, Apathy

January 18, 2010 - A new survey by the Investment Company Institute finds that most Americans are still confident that their 401(k) plans can help them reach their retirement goals, but last year's 31% average drop in account balances has also highlighted the need for improvements to this popular, critical retirement vehicle. Improving education and financial literacy among investors, as well as boosting participation among African American and Hispanic minorities, should be a top priority of the nearly $12 trillion mutual fund industry, said Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Investments.

2010 Will Be The Year Fund Investors Get Real

January 4, 2010 - Since the recession hit two years ago, 80% of mutual fund firms have laid off tens of thousands of people, as total assets under management dropped from $11.999 trillion at the end of 2007 to $10.688 trillion as of October. In line with this 11% decline in assets, fees have undoubtedly plummeted by at least $1 billion a year. While the S&P 500 delivered a remarkable 24.9% return last year, the fact of the matter remains, the stock market is still down 30% from its peak in October 2007. This is why investors in 2009 remained stock-spooked, yanking $36 billion from U.S. equity funds and socking $357 billion into bond funds.