Products April 15, 2011

Smart401k Partners with vWise on New Advice Offering

April 15, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Smart401k has announced a new partnership with vWise, Inc. to bring an education and advice component to employer-sponsored retirement plans.

 

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According to a press release, vWise Inc. and Smart401k, a web-based service delivering investment advice to individuals in employer-sponsored retirement plans, announced Smart401k will now provide the investment advice component to the vWise SmartPlan Enterprise plan participation system.

vWise SmartPlan Enterprise is an interactive video-based retirement planning system that is designed to help employees better understand their 401(k) and 403(b) plans “in a way that engages, entertains and ultimately educates participants,” according to a press release.  The firm says that SmartPlan provides “the benefits of a financial professional, without the expenses typically associated with on-site meetings and print materials”.

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“This partnership helps to fulfill the growing demand for investment advice while making use of a medium that takes participant engagement to an entirely new level,” says Scott Holsopple, President and CEO of Smart401k. “vWise subscribers can now pair video-based education with Smart401k’s online investment advice to provide a full suite of services to their client base.”

When the advice component is selected inside SmartPlan Enterprise, the video hosts guide users through an interactive risk profile questionnaire devised by Smart401k. Smart401k’s proprietary investment allocation algorithm analyzes the answers and provides recommendations for specific plan investments and contribution amounts, according to the announcement.  Participants that have the advice component enabled within their plan can revisit their investment profile as many times as they like to make sure that their current path is aligned with their retirement objectives.

“We are excited to partner with Smart401k, to create a convenient, affordable way to deliver personalized investment advice right inside SmartPlan,” observed vWise President and CEO Tony Mingo.

According to the firms, the partnership emerged as a result of requests from current SmartPlan Enterprise subscribers who were hoping to offer tailored investment advice to participants.

Founded in 2003, Smart401k is a web-based service that delivers investment advice to individuals in employer-sponsored retirement plans. Subscribers receive tailored investment allocation recommendations on a quarterly basis for a flat fee. Members also have access to Smart401k’s team of advisers who are available to answer questions via phone, e-mail of live chat.  More information is available at http://www.smart401k.com.

Administration April 15, 2011

Former NY Comptroller Gets Jail – and a Pension?

April 15, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Former New York state Comptroller Alan Hevesi was sentenced today, after pleading guilty to a felony charge of receiving reward for official misconduct in a pay-to-play scandal involving the Empire State’s pension fund.  

 

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Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced that Hevesi was sentenced to a term of one to four years in prison, the maximum sentence available by law. Hevesi, 71, pleaded guilty in October 2010 to a felony for his involvement in a pay-to-play kickback scheme while the head of the state Comptroller’s Office, specifically to charges that he received nearly $1 million in gifts in exchange for improperly favoring and approving $250 million in pension fund investments in private equity fund Markstone Capital Partners, L.P.  

“Today, Alan Hevesi was appropriately punished for abusing his position as New York’s Comptroller,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “Hevesi brazenly sold access to New York Pension Fund investments—a betrayal of the public trust that went to the heart of his duties as Comptroller. Today’s sentencing decision will help achieve my office’s principal objective of restoring New Yorkers’ faith in their state government. I’d like to thank Governor Cuomo and his team in the Attorney General’s Office for their work on this matter.”  

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The sentencing decision was the second stemming from the long-running investigation by the Attorney General’s Office into corruption involving the Office of the New York State Comptroller and the state pension fund.  Last month, Hevesi’s former political advisor, Henry “Hank” Morris, received the maximum allowable sentence of one to four years in prison after pleading guilty to a Martin Act felony charge for his role in the pay-to-play scandal (see Morris Enters Pay to Play Guilty Plea). 

AG Schneiderman noted that under the sentencing guidelines, jail time wasn’t mandatory, “though it certainly should have been in this case”.  According to a press release from the AG, Hevesi is still eligible for his more than $105,000 annual pension, which the AG said was “completely outrageous”.  He went on to note: “Keep in mind Hevesi once had sole control over the nation’s third-largest public pension fund, valued at $140.2 billion as of Dec. 31. And even before this case was made public, Hevesi had been forced to resign in disgrace in December 2006 after pleading guilty to defrauding the state. That involved using a government employee to serve as a driver for his wife, and for other personal use.  Yet this guy still gets a taxpayer-funded pension? Incredible.” 

 The investigation has resulted in eight guilty pleas to date, according to the New York Attorney General.  In addition to Hevesi and Morris, the Attorney General’s Office notes that it has secured guilty pleas from former Chief Investment Officer David Loglisci; former Liberal Party Chair Raymond Harding; investment advisor Saul Meyer; hedge fund manager Barrett Wissman; unlicensed placement agent Julio Ramirez; and venture fund manager Elliott Broidy. “These defendants are scheduled to be sentenced in the coming months.” 

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