Products March 6, 2014

Envestnet Releases Liquid Alternative Portfolios

March 6, 2014 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The portfolio consulting group of Envestnet Inc. launched a new multi-manager portfolio series called the Liquid Endowment Portfolios, designed to address rising correlations across asset classes.
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Envestnet PMC, a unit of Envestnet Inc. that develops and delivers investment and portfolio solutions, says increased correlation across asset classes has become a significant concern for investors of all sizes since 2000, and especially since the financial crisis in 2008. To address this, the firm says it has released a liquid portfolio series that uses the latest thinking on asset allocation to more effectively combine asset classes in an effort to build wealth. The portfolios are also designed to combat the volatility that drives many investors out of the market during rocky periods by blending strategic, tactical, and alternative strategies.

The products are based on liquid alternative investments to add another level of diversification to client portfolios by introducing hedge-like strategies, the firm says. In addition, the portfolios employ tactical managers that have latitude to allocate away from equities during down markets.

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While not all liquid alternative investments can be classified this way, many are set up to offer a hedging strategy while maintaining certain liquidity, diversification and redemption standards, as required by federal regulations for financial products sold to nonaccredited investors. Unlike a traditional hedge fund, a liquid alternative fund usually must register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to the Investment Company Act of 1940. Like other broad categories of investments, there are substantial differences among specific products classified as liquid alternatives.

The products are often rolled into an employer-sponsored retirement plan either within an actively managed fund-of-funds, such as a target-date fund (TDF), or as a stand-alone option. Managers then take dollars paid into the registered fund-of-funds and invest in dozens of underlying funds, which may or may not be SEC-registered.

In this spirit, the Envestnet Liquid Endowment Portfolios consist of a mix of exchange-traded funds, mutual funds, separately managed accounts and fund strategist portfolios, and are offered at four asset tiers starting at $35,000. The portfolios can be tailored to each asset tier, allowing a broad range of investors access to an appropriate and cost-efficient roster of managers and index-based investments, the firm says.

“If we can reduce volatility and underperformance during down markets, then we believe investors will be more likely to stay the course for the long haul,” says Michael Featherman, director of portfolio strategies at Envestnet PMC. “The [Liquid Endowment Portfolio] framework was inspired by university endowment methods and reinforced by client and adviser demand for a more risk-managed portfolio. Advisers are facing more pressure than ever to deliver better outcomes for clients, and our fully transparent, open-architecture model aims to do just that.”

More information on Envestnet and the liquid portfolio series is available at visit www.envestnet.com.

Products March 6, 2014

Fidelity Emphasizes Outcomes with New Suite

March 6, 2014 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Inspired partly by the way Amazon understands and uses customer behaviors, Fidelity Investments rolled out a suite of tools and technologies with a heightened focus on outcomes.
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There is inertia on the part of both plan sponsors and plan participants when it comes to successful retirement planning, says James MacDonald, president of workplace investing at Fidelity Investments.

Fidelity’s goal is to help employers measure the effectiveness of their workplace savings plans and analyze savings behavior among their employees, as well as help employees make optimal decisions when it comes to their retirement savings choices. The overall goal, of course, is achieving better retirement outcomes.

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The four crucial areas that need to be improved, MacDonald tells PLANSPONSOR, are savings rates, cashing out of the plan, asset allocation, and loans and withdrawals. According to research by Fidelity, nearly half of workers surveyed feel they don’t have the knowledge to make decisions when it comes to saving for retirement. More than half of workers younger than 30 have not enrolled in their workplace savings plan.

Simply providing average account balances and basic metrics are no longer enough to help employers gain insight into improving the plan, MacDonald says. “Employers want meaningful, detailed data that can help them analyze the performance of their savings plan and help ensure their workforce is making the right decisions,” he says.

Two products help drill into the plan to yield insights for plan sponsors to optimize plan design by examining employee behavior.  Plan sponsors can measure the effectiveness of their plan, provide peer benchmarks and analyze employees’ savings and investing behaviors.  They can also identify which employee segments may not be taking the right actions to prepare for retirement.

Executive Insights helps address three main concerns of plan sponsors: what is my workplace plan designed to produce; how is it performing; and what are the areas in need of attention? The platform, which has a patent pending, allows employers to determine the full potential of their savings plan through the ability to view and model potential income replacement rates that various plan designs could yield.

A dashboard gives data about plan performance with aggregated employee behavior metrics (participation rates, savings levels, asset allocations and withdrawal activity). This information can target employee populations that may need guidance in a specific area, as well as encourage employees who are on track. Executive Insights has been available in limited markets, but is now available to all Fidelity’s plan sponsors.

The On Plan Indicator is a metric that helps plan sponsors determine if employees are saving enough and investing appropriately for their age. This indicator will track the percentage of employees saving a total of 10% or more and who are invested with an age-based equity allocation.  The On Plan Indicator will be available this spring. 

Two tools for plan participants streamline enrollment and help them stay on track.

Fidelity’s Personal Progress Reports, available now, give employees an immediate snapshot of three critical areas: how much they are saving, how their savings is invested, and whether they are on track to reach long-term savings goals. The assessment suggests next steps for those who want to make changes, and allows them to take action with a mouse click.

A simplified way for employees to enroll in a workplace savings plan and a tool to help them understand whether their retirement savings are on track will be available this summer. The Easy Enroll and Easy Savings program simplifies the enrollment process by allowing employees to join their workplace savings plan with just two clicks, using a smartphone, tablet or desktop.  This offering, also patent pending, allows employees to select from one of three suggested savings rates and invests in a target-date fund. The program also automatically increases their savings rate by 1% annually. More information about Easy Enroll is here.

Fidelity drew on its volume of retirement planning data to build the tools, MacDonald points out. “The more we know, the likelier we are to engage participants,” he says.

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