S&P Releases Equity Sector Analyzer

September 6, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A new sector-level equity analysis tool might make the going a bit easier for investment advisors and brokers who support plan sponsors.

Standard & Poor’s said in a media release announcing the unveiling of Sector Investor that it draws on sector research from S&P’s Sector Committee. The committee, according to the media release, makes sector recommendation decisions – overweight, underweight, or marketweight based on certain criteria.

S&P said those criteria include:

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  • market momentum
  • sector trends
  • economic data
  • underlying company evaluations from Standard & Poor’s 60 equity analysts.

Users can review the best and worst performing sectors and sub-industries within the S&P SuperComposite 1500 Index, and learn in detail about the performance of each, the company said. Sector Investor can then access  recommendations for related equity-based investments including sector funds and sector ETFs.

The following components make up the Sector Investor module:

  • Sector Scorecard – A one-screen overview of the best and worst performing industries within the S&P SuperComposite 1500 Index for the previous week. Each has corresponding data on the weighting of each industry within the S&P 1500, percentage price changes ranging from one week to five years ago, average STARS (Standard & Poor’s Stock Appreciation Ranking System) rankings for stocks in the sector, and recommended portfolio weightings
  • Industry Movers – tracking which industries are moving in the day’s market and why
  • Industries in the News – reporting the latest Standard & Poor’s opinion changes on sectors
  • Industries in Focus – a detailed analysis of a particular industry selected by editors from Standard & Poor’s MarketScope.
  • The Sector Strategist – a weekly column by Sam Stovall, Standard & Poor’s chief investment strategist
  • Industry Momentum Portfolio – a model portfolio of sectors with high return potential, which is updated the first trading day of each month
  • ETF – a list of Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) based on Standard & Poor’s global set of indexes, including the fund sponsor’s name, ticker symbol, and a description of the fund.

For more information, visit www.advisorinsight.com .

Online K Provider Organizes Three Fund Groups

August 6, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Plan sponsors working with a financial advisor or broker to set up a 401(k) plan may now find the chore of selecting investment options a little easier.

E401k, an online plan provider, which sells through third parties, announced it had organized its fund offerings into three groups called Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. According to a company announcement:

  • The E401k Gold fund list is designed for small companies with fewer than 100 employees and offers “A” mutual fund shares without an upfront load to be sold through brokers.
  • The E401k Platinum seeks to attract firms with 100 or more workers and/or at least $1 million in plan assets. The Platinum funds are also designed to be marketed through brokers.
  • The E401k Diamond group of no-load funds is designed to be offered by registered investment advisors paid by fees.

E401k said the funds in the three groups are from fund families such as American Funds, American Century, Dodge & Cox, Dreyfus, Franklin Templeton, Goldman Sachs, INVESCO, Janus, JP Morgan, First Trust Portfolios, Oppenheimer, Putnam, T Rowe Price and The Vanguard Group.

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The company said plan sponsors and their third-party advisors can make plan decisions including fund choices more quickly with the three groups because of the efficiency of its existing K plan platform.

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