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Canadian Activist Group Tells Investors: Get Out of Money Funds

FAIR Canada cites minimal returns and high fees.

Advent Software Acquires Goya

The Norwegian company offers fund distribution and management software for the EMEA region.

Sallie Mae Launches Banking Products to Aid College Savers

The company has $23 billion in 529 college savings plans.

BrightScope, Acceleration Retirement Form Partnership

BrightScope rates 401(k)s, and Acceleration Retirement provides lead generation for advisers.

BoA Brokerage Offers 401(k) Health Monitor

The tool calculates the overall financial wellness of a 401(k).

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Articles

BoA Plays to Merrill Strength in Ads Aimed at Near-Retirees

Bank of America plans to spend $15 million to $20 million on a new advertising campaign targeting retirees. The four-month "help2retire" campaign, which launched this month, will include national print and television advertising as well as billboards and online ads. BoA said the campaign encourages individuals to work with a Merrill Lynch adviser to find areas of their lives that they would like help in "retiring," such as confusion around Roth individual retirement account conversions.

403(b) Group Seeks Common Language

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.

Grail Makes Big Bet on Actively Managed ETFs

The actively managed exchange-traded funds sector is increasingly going mainstream, and Grail Advisors is riding right along with it. Grail is aggressively expanding its product lineup, introducing two fixed-income funds that brings to seven its stable of actively managed exchange-traded funds. William Thomas, the chief executive officer of the San Francisco money manager, said in an interview that the company plans to introduce still more equity and fixed-income actively managed ETFs and is in talks with mutual fund companies that are interested in converting to the products.

Extreme Makeover: 401(k) Edition

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.

Estate Tax Expiration Reveals Opportunities

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.

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